


Family Confidential

by Laragh



Series: Confidential!Verse [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Baby Fic, F/F, Medical Procedures, Pregnancy, Sequel, family fic, fertility procedures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-02
Updated: 2012-05-16
Packaged: 2019-10-10 07:35:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 68
Words: 306,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17421731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laragh/pseuds/Laragh
Summary: Some years have passed, some desires have strengthened and so the Family growsSequel to 'Hacker Confidential'





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted @ [The Kitten Board](http://thekittenboard.net/thekitt/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6204) in February 2011
> 
> This was the second written fic of the Confidential!Verse series and is set fourth chronologically

  
  
“Hamburgers or tacos?”  
  
  
Jacob James ‘JJ’ Rosenberg-Maclay pursed in lips in serious contemplation from his position sitting on the countertop in the kitchen for a moment before nodding decidedly.  
  
  
“Hamburgers. With extra cheese!”  
  
  
Willow laughed shook her head.  
  
  
“My boy wants extra cheese, then my boy gets extra cheese.”  
  
  
“Cheese is good for your teeth and your bones,” JJ replied knowledgably, “‘Cause it has calthium.”  
  
  
“Calcium, little man,” Willow corrected with a smile, “And you’re right, it’s very good for growing boys. Are you gonna help me get everything ready?”  
  
  
JJ went to jump off the island but Willow fixed him with a stern glare, before lifting him down.  
  
  
“You can’t jump down from there, honey, it’s too high. You might hurt yourself. And you can only sit up there when there’s an adult in the room, okay?”  
  
  
“Okay, Momma,” JJ replied apologetically, “I promise.”  
  
  
“Good boy,” Willow replied lovingly, ruffling her son’s blonde hair, “Okay, now what do we need for hamburgers?”  
  
  
JJ flung the refrigerator door open.  
  
  
“We need...meat?”  
  
  
“We do indeed,” Willow smiled as JJ handed her a package of ground beef, “And...”  
  
  
“An egg!” JJ said proudly as he tried to remember the ingredients, “And, and...an onion.”  
  
  
His face distorted into disgust as he mentioned the last item and Willow bit back a laugh.  
  
  
“You can’t even taste it, remember?”  
  
  
“I know,” JJ agreed reluctantly, handing the items he had named, “We need buns!”  
  
  
“I got them,” Willow replied, holding up a pack of hamburger buns, since they had been too high for JJ to reach, “Can you hand me the big glass bowl?”  
  
  
JJ opened one of the lower cupboards and carefully held the bowl his mother was asking for in his arms.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow said warmly, reaching down and taking the bowl, “Wanna sit back up here and help me?”  
  
  
JJ nodded eagerly and Willow lifted was about to lift him back up onto the island when the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway outside was heard. Both of their faces lit up.  
  
  
“I wonder who that is,” Willow said teasingly as JJ started bouncing up and down excitedly.  
  
  
“Is it Mommy?” JJ asked, his tongue poking out between his teeth.  
  
  
Willow pretended to be unsure, shrugging slightly.  
  
  
“Why don’t you check?”  
  
  
JJ bounded from the kitchen and into the foyer just in time to see Tara walking through the front door. The young boy threw himself at the blonde, wrapping his arms around her legs.  
  
  
“Mommy!”  
  
  
“Hey, little man,” Tara said, tiredly but warmly as she scooted down and pulled her son into a hug.  
  
  
JJ hugged back for a moment before grabbing Tara’s hand and pulling her into the kitchen.  
  
  
“Yay, it’s Mommy!” he exclaimed excitedly at Willow.  
  
  
“Yay,” Willow grinned, wiping her hands against the apron she was wearing and walking over to her wife, throwing her arms around her neck, “It’s Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and held onto the redhead’s waist as she leaned down and kissed her softly. JJ waited good-naturedly for a moment, quite used to seeing his mother’s kissing, before the general impatience a five year old has exhibited itself and he pulled on Tara’s pants.  
  
  
“Mommy, I drew a picture today in school, wanna see?”  
  
  
Tara pulled away from her wife and looked down with a nod.  
  
  
“You bet, Jakey.”  
  
  
JJ ran off with a squeal and Willow laughed.  
  
  
“He’s very proud of this picture,” she said, not letting up her hold on the blonde, “Spent all morning on it apparently. How was work?”  
  
  
“Work,” Tara replied with a sigh, before smiling again, “But I’m home now. And very glad to be.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and moved her arms down to wrap her wife in a hug. She knew Friday was Tara’s worst day, since she stayed late to make up for the other days of the week that she left early so she could collect JJ from school.   
  
  
Willow, in turn, left work at lunch-time on a Friday since JJ’s school let out early on that day. They’d devised the system when JJ had started pre-school to avoid him having to go to expensive day-cares after school, and continued when he started Kindergarten just a couple of months previously.  
  
  
Willow squeezed her wife tightly to try and relieve any tension from the day and turned her head to place a lingering kiss against the blonde's cheek.  
  
  
“Me and JJ were making hamburgers.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as they separated from their hug.  
  
  
“Yum.”   
  
  
JJ rushed back into the room at that moment, proudly holding up a piece of paper. Willow went back to preparing the hamburgers while Tara crouched down to her son’s levels and admired the picture he was showing her.  
  
  
“Wow, sweetie,” she said as she took in the different lines and colours and tried to make out exactly what the picture was and pointed to a stick figure, coloured over in red, “Is that you?”  
  
  
“That’s me as a fire-fighter!” JJ exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a long, yellow line that was beside the stick figure, “That’s my hose! So I can put out all the fires.”  
  
  
“Oh I see,” Tara replied with a smile, “A fire-fighter huh?”  
  
  
She glanced up for a moment at Willow who just smiled knowingly back; JJ’s preference over his future career changed on a weekly basis – a few days previously he had been hell bent on being a astronaut and the week before that it had been a shark trainer.   
  
  
“Yep,” JJ nodded eagerly, “See, I’m putting out the fire and saving all the people and the animals. There’s a little baby and there’s a puppy and there’s you and Momma, but you guys are safe ‘cause I don’t want you being in a fire.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and kissed her son on the side of the head.  
  
  
“Good thinking, little man. What’s that?”  
  
  
Tara pointed at a squiggle of gold on the paper.  
  
  
“That’s a half-camel,” JJ said as if it was obvious.  
  
  
“A half-camel?” Tara asked, stifling a giggle, “What happened to his other half?”  
  
  
JJ rolled his eyes.  
  
  
“Nothing, he never had one. That’s why he’s a half-camel.”  
  
  
“Oh. Well it’s good that you saved him then. The world deserves to know about a half-camel,” Tara replied before ruffling the boys hair, “So are you gonna be a fire-fighter for Halloween then?”  
  
  
JJ’s face lit up and he stared at his mother, wide-eyed.  
  
  
“Can I???”  
  
  
“I’m sure we can find a costume,” Tara smiled as she took the picture, “Can I put this on the refrigerator?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and Tara reached into her pocket, taking something out and hiding it in her hand.  
  
  
“I got you something, JJ...”  
  
  
JJ looked down at his mother’s hand, then back into her face, grinning.  
  
  
“Is it...?”  
  
  
Tara unfolded her hand to reveal a small, shiny green toy car, the size of a matchbox and JJ squealed, grabbing it and throwing his arms around his mother’s neck.  
  
  
“Thank you, Mommy, thank you! And it’s green, I needed a green one! I have to go introduce it to all my other cars!”  
  
  
JJ ran off and loud footsteps could be heard on the staircase.  
  
  
“Wash your hands while you’re up there, JJ,” Willow shouted after her son before smiling and shaking her head at Tara, “You spoil him with those cars.”  
  
  
“He gets the love of cars from you,” Tara retorted playfully, straightening up, “And he said thank you straight away. He’s not spoiled. Besides...you know I can’t resist those big green eyes. Never could.”  
  
  
She walked over and wrapped her arms around Willow’s waist as she spoke, feeling the redhead lean back into the embrace as she chopped an onion.  
  
  
“Can’t resist, huh? I’ll have to use that to my advantage later.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head into the smaller girl's neck and kissed the skin there.  
  
  
“That a promise?”  
  
  
Willow wiggled her ass against Tara's front suggestively.  
  
  
“You bet it is.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and trailed her lips upwards, to below her wife’s ear.  
  
  
“I’ll start on a salad.”  
  
  
“No,” Willow replied, putting a hand over Tara’s to keep her in place, “Hold me for a little while.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and rested her chin on Willow’s shoulder.  
  
  
“You like me holding you?”  
  
  
“No, we’ve just been married for almost 6 years ‘cause I can’t get enough of your rack,” Willow joked, before her tone softened, “I love you holding me. Something you very much weren’t doing when I woke up this morning, by the way.”  
  
  
“I'm sorry,” Tara replied genuinely. They had a general practice of not getting out of bed until both of them were awake so they had a few moments of alone time before facing the day, but the blonde had had to get up early that morning, “I put the cereal in the wrong cupboard yesterday and JJ couldn’t find it this morning.”  
  
  
“Forgiven,” Willow sighed as she threw the chopped onion in the bowl with the meat, “But come back to bed next time. I felt naked waking up without your arms around me.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and squeezed the redhead’s midsection playfully.  
  
  
“You were naked. I had my wicked way with you before we went to sleep last night, remember?”  
  
  
“I meant naked emotionally,” Willow replied, bumping her hips backwards against her wife’s, “And I do seem to recall it was a mutual having of the wicked way.”  
  
  
Tara gave a murmur of agreement.  
  
  
“Mmhh, yes it was.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and turned her head to the side so she could peck Tara’s lips lovingly.  
  
  
“I adore you,” she said as she quietly nuzzled into the blonde’s neck for just a moment before continuing to make the hamburgers, “I should add some basil to this...can you hand me some leaves?”  
  
  
Tara inhaled the scent emanating from her wife, smiling at the easy way Willow had switched from affection back to continuing in her task.  
  
  
“You just gonna stand there and sniff my hair or are you gonna help me make dinner?” Willow asked teasingly when the blonde failed to move, “We have a son who needs to eat, you know.”  
  
  
“You were the one who asked me to hold you,” Tara replied, not letting go just yet, before her tone became decidedly playful, “And it’s Friday, which means you went to the park after you collected JJ from school and he got at least one ice-cream.”  
  
  
Willow’s hands stilled as she kneaded the meat together for a moment before she cleared her throat.  
  
  
“He wasn’t supposed to tell you about that.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head to herself and chuckled.  
  
  
“I don’t know why you keep thinking I’m gonna have an issue with him eating some candy. He must think I’m some big meanie if you keep telling him ‘not to tell Mommy’.”  
  
  
Willow lifted her hands from the bowl they were in and wiped them against her apron before turning in the blonde’s arms.  
  
  
“Shit, Tare, I didn’t think about that. I just know you like him eating healthy...”  
  
  
“And he does,” Tara said pointedly, but with a smile, “Hence the not minding that he has some candy.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow relented, also with a smile, “No more secret ice-cream buddies. Or secret cookie buddies. And no more making our little man think Mommy is a food Nazi.”  
  
  
“What’s a Nazi?”  
  
  
Both girls jumped back at the sound of JJ’s voice and looked down to where he was standing next to them.  
  
  
“Jeez, sneaky boy,” Willow laughed, picking their son up between them, “Since when are you at all quiet?”  
  
  
“What’s a Nazi?” JJ persisted in a whine, getting a pout on his face.  
  
  
“It’s a bad person,” Willow answered, deciding JJ was too young to understand if she tried to explain fully, “Did you wash your hands?”  
  
  
JJ opened his mouth to say yes but thought better of it and shook his head. Willow put him back down on the floor.  
  
  
“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, go wash up.”  
  
  
JJ ran off again and Tara looked at her wife pointedly.  
  
  
“He learned that pout from you.”  
  
  
Willow just rolled her eyes.  
  
  
“Well you can’t say it’s genetic.”  
  
  
“Evidentially not,” Tara laughed, “Which means the entire world could learn it. God help all the people who fall under its spell.”  
  
  
“You’ve survived pretty well,” Willow grinned before spinning back in her place, “These should have been made up ages ago. Stop distracting me with your pretty face.”  
  
  
“I’ll go set the table,” Tara replied with a final squeeze of her wife’s hips, “Is he still using the Batman plate?”  
  
  
JJ’s career choice wasn’t the only thing that changed on a regular basis, he also had a variety of different superhero and TV character plates and cutlery sets that he would refuse to eat off of if it wasn’t the right one.   
  
  
“Yea,” Willow nodded as she balled the meat in her hands, “And the twisty straw for his milk.”  
  
  
Tara nodded as well, smiling as she gathered the appropriate items in her hands and walked into the dining room. Part of her thought they should be more firm with their son and refuse to give into his dish whims, but it was really the only thing he ever threw a tantrum over and for the sake of sanity in their household, she was willing to concede the one point.   
  
  
She figured he’d grow out of it eventually anyway, but was stopped from any further contemplation on the issue when she felt something wrap around her leg.  
  
  
“Thank you for my car, Mommy,” JJ’s voice piped up from below, “It goes really fast. And now I have every colour.”  
  
  
“Your very welcome, little man,” Tara replied, crouching down to her son’s height and ruffling his hair, “You have every colour now, huh? Does that mean you don’t need any more?”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes went wide and he shook his head.  
  
  
“No, now I need trucks!”  
  
  
“Trucks,” Tara said with a small laugh, “Of course. How could I forget trucks? You washed up didn’t you?”  
  
  
JJ held up his clean hands.  
  
  
“I even used extra soap!”  
  
  
“That’s my boy,” Tara smiled as she straightened up again, “Wanna help me set the table?”  
  
  
“Okay,” JJ nodded, climbing onto a chair and grabbing some of the cutlery, “Knives on the right and forks on the left, right?”  
  
  
“That’s right, sweetheart,” Tara replied as she set the other two places and watched as her son looked between the cutlery, “Do you need some help?”  
  
  
“No,” JJ shook his head before placing the knife and fork down in the correct place, “See?”  
  
  
“Well done,” Tara beamed, knowing the boy had just been learning his lefts and rights and has been struggling with it.  
  
  
JJ stuck his tongue out between his teeth proudly.  
  
  
“Momma taught me! See, your left hand makes an ‘L’ shape when you hold it in front of you!” he said, holding out his hand in demonstration, “L for left!”  
  
  
“Momma’s very smart,” Tara replied, kissing the top of JJ’s head, “And so are you. I’m very proud.”  
  
  
“What are you very proud of?” Willow asked as she walked into the room, carrying a plate with hamburgers on it and a bowl with salad.  
  
  
Tara grinned as she took the plate from her wife’s hand and put in on the table.  
  
  
“He got his lefts and rights.”  
  
  
“I used your trick, Momma, look!” JJ squealed, holding his hand out again, “L for left!”  
  
  
“That’s it, baby boy,” Willow said proudly as she high-fived her son, “Next up, shoelaces!”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes widened.  
  
  
“You think I’m ready?”  
  
  
“You bet. Oh, forgot your milk,” Willow replied as she put the salad down beside the burgers, then looked up at Tara, “Drink, baby?”  
  
  
Tara just shook her head and Willow slipped out of the room, returning moments later with a carton of milk, pouring herself a glass and then filling JJ’s glass up and putting his twisty straw in it, then took one of the burgers that she’d set on the side of the plate and put in front of her son.  
  
  
“One hamburger with extra cheese,” she smiled, ruffling his hair as she took her seat and Tara dished the salad out, “Did you tell Mommy what you learned in school today, Jakey?”   
  
  
“Dittion!” JJ said, chewing.   
  
  
“Don’t speak with your mouth full,” both Willow and Tara said at the same time before grinning at each other and clasping one set of hands together between them on the table.   
  
  
“Sorry,” JJ replied sheepishly, swallowing the food in his mouth, “We’re learning dittion!”  
  
  
“Addition?” Tara guessed with a smile and got a discreet nod off Willow.  
  
  
JJ nodded excitedly.  
  
  
“Two plus two is four and four plus four is eight!”  
  
  
“That’s right,” Willow said and JJ beamed.  
  
  
There was a comfortable silence around the table for a few minutes as everyone ate until JJ slurped the last of his milk loudly.  
  
  
“Can I go watch TV please?”  
  
  
Both women nodded and JJ picked up his plate and glass to clear them before scurrying out of the room. Willow turned her head to the side to watch Tara and smiled at her.  
  
  
“You make eating hamburgers look sexy.”   
  
  
Tara smiled sweetly and moved her chair and plate so they were sitting next to each other and picked up a piece of chopped tomato and holding it up to her wife’s mouth, who dutifully took it between her teeth and chewed.   
  
  
“You make eating anything look sexy.”   
  
  
Willow almost choked on the tomato in her mouth and managed to swallow it after a moment of struggling, then gaped at Tara.  
  
  
“Did you even mean that the way it came out?”  
  
  
“No,” Tara softly laughed as she suddenly realised what she’d said, “But I have no problem with it being interpreted that way.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and waggled her eyebrows.  
  
  
“I might just have to _interpret_ later.”  
  
  
Tara grinned back.  
  
  
“I might be _open_ to _interpretation_.”  
  
  
Willow burst into giggles before putting both hands in front of her in a ‘stop’ motion.  
  
  
“Our thinking is really far too pun-y.”  
  
  
Tara gave a nonchalant shrug.  
  
  
“I dunno, right now I'm not thinking very pun-y,” she replied before her grin became entirely devilish, “I'm thinking more about pu–”  
  
  
Willow quickly pressed two fingers against her wife's lips, effectively cutting her off.  
  
  
“There is a 5 year old child in listening distance,” she said in mock-scolding, though her grin matched the blonde's as she threw a wink in Tara's direction. She used her fingers position to trace them around her wife's lips, licking her own in response, “C’mere.”  
  
  
She leaned her head forwards so their lips met softly for a few seconds before she nuzzled their noses together and speared a piece of lettuce on her fork, bringing it up to feed her wife.   
  
  
Tara felt her heart swell at the intimate gesture and took the offering as they continued to feed each other the last of their meal and softly kissed again.   
  
  
“Wanna fool around later?” Willow grinned between kisses.  
  
  
“Do you even have to ask?” Tara grinned back, “Already told you I can’t resist those beautiful green eyes.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes shone excitedly and she glanced at her watch, sighing slightly when she saw the time.  
  
  
“Bath time.”  
  
  
“Remember when that meant we were gonna be wet and naked together?” Tara quipped as she picked up her plates and started towards the kitchen.  
  
  
“It can still mean that,” Willow protested, following with her own dishes, “Let’s do it, tonight. We’ll light some candles and everything.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she pulled the door of the dishwasher down.  
  
  
“Never let it be said you ever let the romance slide.”  
  
  
“So you’re in?” Willow asked as she put her plate in the dishwasher.  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied, taking her wife’s glass from her, “I’ll clean up in here. Can you look after his bath?”  
  
  
“Definitely,” Willow responded, excited by their plans for the night as she turned to walk back out of the kitchen, “JJ! Bath time!”  
  
  
She walked into the living room where she saw her son intently watching what looked like the news.  
  
  
“Why are you watching the news, honey? Aren’t there any cartoons on?”  
  
  
“There was a fire truck!” JJ said, his eyes never leaving the screen, “There was a real fire and the firemen put it out and they showed the big hose and everything! It was so cool!”  
  
  
Willow hunched down next to her son.  
  
  
“I know you love the fire trucks and everything, but you know it’s really serious if there’s ever a fire anywhere, right?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” JJ nodded seriously, his eyes wide, “People can get hurt. I don’t want them to get hurt, that’s why I wanna be a fireman!”  
  
  
Willow smiled and pulled JJ to her, happy her son’s ambitions were rooted in altruism and not some latent pyromania.  
  
  
“It’s bath time, little man,” she said as JJ wrapped his hands around her neck and she straightened up, walking towards the stairs.  
  
  
“Today’s Friday, right?” JJ asked with a pensive look on his face as they ascended the stairs and walked into the bathroom.  
  
  
“That’s right,” Willow replied as she started filling the tub, “Which means no school for the next two days.”  
  
  
“I like school,” JJ answered, before his eyes lit up, “But that means tomorrow’s Saturday! I get to see Alex, right?”  
  
  
Willow nodded with a warm smile, knowing her son loved the times he got to meet up with Xander and Anya’s little boy. Their six month age difference had never mattered to either boy, they’d been best friends since they’d been in diapers.   
  
  
Alex had just started Kindergarten too, but his parents had opted to send him to a private school, so weekends were when they boys most often had their playdates  
  
  
“Well I’ll have to give Aunty Anya a call, but I’m sure you can. Now, arms up.”  
  
  
JJ diligently lifted his arms up and Willow whipped his t-shirt off as he got rid of his clothes himself and climbed onto into the tub, instantly grabbing the green and red toy boat from the small basket on the side of the tub and splashing it into the water.  
  
  
“Whoa, chill out there, Jakey,” Willow said, holding up a towel between her and the errant water spraying out at her.  
  
  
“Sorry, Momma,” JJ replied absently as he ran the boat along the water and made engine sounds with his mouth.  
  
  
Willow grabbed the jug from the side of the tub and filled it with water and gently it poured it over her son’s head.  
  
  
“You gonna wash yourself or just pretend you’re a boat?” she asked playfully as she lathered the boy’s hair with shampoo.  
  
  
“Pretend I’m a boat,” JJ answered seriously, not taking his attention away from his toy.  
  
  
“Oh ha, ha,” Willow replied good-humouredly, rinsing the shampoo out, “Soap, little man.”  
  
  
JJ protruded his bottom lip for a moment before agreeing reluctantly.  
  
  
“Okay...”  
  
  
He let his boat float away from him and grabbed the bar of soap from the basket, rubbing it between his hands and started washing himself. Willow smiled at him.  
  
  
“Good boy.”  
  
  
She quietly washing the parts of her son’s back she knew he wouldn’t be able to reach until JJ turned to her, beaming.  
  
  
“I’m clean!”  
  
  
“Sparkling!”  
  
  
Willow laughed and reached for the small blue towel robe, holding it out. JJ stood up and carefully stepped out of the bath and into the robe before stepping onto the small plastic step-ladder positioned in front of the sink so he could brush his teeth, quite used to his nightly routine.  
  
  
Willow too was used to the nightly routine and braced herself as her son’s loud voice starting ringing out to the tune of “Do Your Ears Hang Low”.  
  
  
 _Are... your... teeth clean and white?  
Do you brush them left and right?  
Do you brush them in the morning?  
Do you brush them every night?  
Do you brush them up and down?  
Do you brush them round and round?  
Are your teeth... clean and white?_  
  
  
JJ continued to hum and sing some of the words as he brushed his teeth diligently. He’d learned the song in Kindergarten and had sung it every morning and every night since.  
  
  
“Done,” he proclaimed proudly a moment later, grinning to display his pearly whites and jumping off the step ladder.  
  
  
“Careful, honey, the floor’s a little wet,” Willow replied, grabbing a hold of JJ’s side to steady him, “Okay, now jammies!”  
  
  
JJ scurried off into his bedroom and over to his dresser, opening the bottom drawer and picking out his Spiderman pyjamas. His room was simply decorated, with just his dresser, a bookshelf and the race-car shaped bed he’d gotten when he upgraded from his crib to his ‘big boy bed’, and his variety of toys scattered neatly around the place.  
  
  
Willow followed into the room as JJ was pulling his pyjama top over his head, his robe dropped on the floor. She was about to ask him to pick him up when he did it without being asked and hooked it onto the knob of one of his dresser drawers to dry.  
  
  
“You’re an angel,” she said lovingly as she knelt down beside her son.  
  
  
“I’m not Uncle Angel,” JJ said in confusion, “I’m JJ.”  
  
  
Willow stifled a laugh and feigned amazement.  
  
  
“So you are. You’re getting so big I get confused sometimes. You wanna pick a story?”  
  
  
JJ shook his head, much to the surprise of his mother.  
  
  
“You don’t want a story?”  
  
  
“I want Mommy to sing instead,” JJ explained, “Will she?”  
  
  
Willow smiled and nodded, straightening up and walking over to the door.  
  
  
“Baby?” she called out, “Can you come up here?”  
  
  
She heard what sounded like ‘sure’ come from somewhere downstairs and walked back over to where JJ had settled himself into bed and beneath the covers.  
  
  
“You nice and comfy?” Willow asked, tucking the blanket more securely in.  
  
  
JJ nodded and brightened when he saw his blonde-haired mother appear in the doorway. Tara leant against the frame with a smile.  
  
  
“Everything okay?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Willow smiled at her wife, “Your singing expertise has been requested.”  
  
  
“Ah,” Tara smiled back, walking into the room and perching herself on the edge of her son’s bed, “And what would you like me to sing?”  
  
  
JJ looked off in contemplation for a moment before deciding.  
  
  
“Song from Anas...Anasta...” he trailed off for a moment as he focused on saying what he wanted, “[Anastasia](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyUBdLm3s9U)!”  
  
  
JJ, like Willow, had a passion for anything and everything of the animated film varieties, particularly loving the music from the classic movies.  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied and felt her wife sit behind her on the bed as well, resting her chin on her shoulder, “Am I singing for both of you?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow whispered quietly, moving her hands around to rest on Tara’s stomach.  
  
  
Tara chuckled softly for a moment before focusing her attention on her son, smiling at him as she began the song.  
  
  
 _Dancing bears... Painted wings... Things I almost remember. And a song, someone sings ... Once upon a December..._  
  
  
JJ instantly started to relax as he listening to his mother sing and Tara covered the hands on her stomach with her own as she continued through the chorus.  
  
  
 _Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory..._  
  
  
Tara hummed the interlude and watched as JJ’s eyes started to flutter closed before repeating the chorus and launching into the next verse.  
  
  
 _Far away. Long ago. Glowing dim as an ember. Things my heart used to know, things it yearns to remember..._  
  
  
Both women saw their son’s breath even out completely and Tara whispered the last line.  
  
  
 _And a song someone sings... Once upon a December..._  
  
  
She leant forwards and placed a light kiss against JJ’s head before silently taking Willow’s hand and leading her out of the room, stopping only momentarily to turn on the Batman nightlight next to the bed.  
  
  
“It gives me shivers when you sing,” Willow whispered as she carefully closed JJ’s bedroom door, “And it gets him to nod off so quickly. Normally it’s at least 3 stories before he’ll even consider closing his eyes, but with you singing, less than 2 minutes and he’s out.”  
  
  
“Singing has always soothed him,” Tara replied with a fond smile, “Remember when he was a baby? He even got his name from you singing to him. At least partially.”  
  
  
“Thank god he realised you were the singer in the family,” Willow joked before coyly nodding towards the bathroom.  
  
  
Tara bit the side of her lip excitedly.  
  
  
“Our bath time?”   
  
  
Willow nodded with a smile.  
  
  
“Our bath time.”


	2. Chapter 2

  
Tara smiled and let go of her wife’s hand.  
  
  
“I’ll get the wine.”  
  
  
Willow scrunched up her nose in agreement and unabashedly watched the blonde’s retreating form as she made her way downstairs before turning back into the bathroom and refilling the tub, adding some bubble bath to the mix as well.   
  
  
She let the water fill up as she dashed into their bedroom and retrieved some candles from where they kept some atop their dresser, as well as a box of matches and brought them back into the bathroom, positioning and lighting them around the tub.  
  
  
“Perfect,” she whispered to herself, turning off the water and running a hand through it.  
  
  
She turned off the lights so the candles cast a romantic glow around the room and quickly stripped off, sinking into the tub and sighing contentedly as the bubbles rose above her.  
  
  
“You look comfortable, should I leave you alone?”  
  
  
Willow turned at the sound of her wife’s voice in the doorway and shook her head with a grin.  
  
  
“Not a chance. This tub is very much missing a gorgeous, sexy blonde.”  
  
  
Tara stepped further into the bathroom, a glass of red wine in each hand and a smirk on her lips.  
  
  
“You got Kate Hudson to have a bath with you?”  
  
  
Willow narrowed her eyes playfully.  
  
  
“Even if I did, I wouldn’t want her,” she said, sticking out her tongue, “And to clarify, this tub is missing _my_ gorgeous, sexy blonde. Get in here.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife a sultry half-smile and handed her one of the glasses, putting the other by the sink as she started unbuttoning her shirt.  
  
  
“Since you’re getting undressed anyway, you might as well make it a show,” Willow grinned as she sipped on her wine, “You know, nice and slow.”  
  
  
Tara slowed her movements slightly and began swaying her hips as she continued to smirk.  
  
  
“Like this?”  
  
  
Willow just rested her chin on her elbow on the side of the tub and looked on dreamily as Tara shrugged her blouse over her shoulders and shook herself free of her pants.  
  
  
“You’re wearing my favourite panties,” Willow said in playful accusation as she saw her wife’s purple underwear come into show, “Let me see your ass in them.”  
  
  
Tara slowly turned her wiggled her ass, much to the redhead’s delight, who stuck her tongue out between her teeth.  
  
  
“Now let me just see your ass.”  
  
  
“You’re so demanding,” Tara replied in mock-exasperation but the grin never left her face as she dragged her panties off her body.  
  
  
“You knew that when you married me,” Willow replied with a waggle of her eyebrows as Tara snapped her bra off and grabbed her wine, then went to sit in the tub, opposite the smaller girl, “What are you doing?”  
  
  
Tara paused in her movements and smiled a small smile.  
  
  
“I’m getting in...”  
  
  
“Not like that you’re not,” Willow scoffed, holding her arms out, “In my arms, please.”  
  
  
Tara smiled again and turned, making Willow grin as she got an unobstructed view of her wife’s butt, before the blonde sank down into the water and settled herself against the redhead’s front.  
  
  
“Hey there, beautiful,” Willow whispered in Tara’s ear as her spare hand wrapped around the taller girl’s waist, her hand on her stomach under the water, “This is heaven.”  
  
  
Tara murmured an agreement and they lapsed into a comfortable silence, quietly enjoying their wine and the feeling of being close to one another until Willow entwined their hands under water and rested her chin on the blonde’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Hey Tare-bear? Can I ask you something?”  
  
  
“As long as it doesn’t involve moving,” Tara replied lazily, smiling as she relaxed even further into their embrace.  
  
  
“No moving,” Willow responded with a joke in her voice, “Just ah...something I’ve been thinking about over the last little while. More pondering really, I mean I haven’t-”  
  
  
Tara, knowing her wife better than anything or anyone, quickly turned her head and softly kissed her before the babble even had a chance to start.  
  
  
“Ask me anything, darling,” she whispered against the redhead’s lips before pulling away completely and looking at her wife expectantly.  
  
  
Willow seemed to exhale slowly, nervously for a moment before smiling  
  
  
“Do you ever think about having another baby?” she asked and bit her lip before adding, “With me, I mean.”  
  
  
“Who else would I be having a baby with?” Tara laughed before she gave a shy nod, “I’ve thought about it.”  
  
  
Willow brightened.  
  
  
“And what were your general thoughts...when you thought about it?”  
  
  
“That it would be wonderful,” Tara replied with a half smile, “That we would just be adding even more love to our family.”  
  
  
“I’ve thought the same things,” Willow replied, beaming, “And how nice it would be for JJ to have a little brother or sister, and to experience being pregnant...”  
  
  
Tara smiled lovingly.  
  
  
“You wanna carry our baby?” she asked, moving her spare hand up to cup the redhead’s cheek, “I’d love for that to happen.”  
  
  
Willow got a wide smile on her face and almost squealed excitedly.  
  
  
“Wait, wait, wait. I was just broaching the question but are you...Are we saying we’re gonna have another baby? We’re really gonna do it?”  
  
  
Tara took a moment, not to contemplate whether what Willow was suggesting was what she really wanted – she was sure it was – but to just register that they were talking about really doing it.   
  
  
All at once an image of a pregnant Willow, followed by them cradling a newborn flashed through her mind and she felt suddenly overwhelmed and wondered why they hadn't discussed this sooner; her, what had been clearly a latent, desire for another child filled her mind and heart and she could see Willow felt the same.  
  
  
She turned to her wife and nodded excitedly.  
  
  
“We can make an appointment to see the doctor on Monday. See how exactly we need to go about things.”  
  
  
“Really?” Willow asked, shock and disbelief evident on her face, “I just...I just wanted to bring it up, talk about it, but you really wanna...? Right away?”  
  
  
“If you do,” Tara replied softly, “We'll have a lot to talk about, but I'm 100% in.”  
  
  
Willow’s face lit up entirely and she leaned forwards so their lips met, tenderly but eagerly.  
  
  
“Tara, I wanna have your baby,” she murmured against her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“I know,” Tara murmured back in a whisper, “We’re gonna do it.”  
  
  
“No, Tara...” Willow pulled back and let go of the blonde’s hand, resting it on her stomach and giving it a small squeeze to indicate what she meant, “I wanna have _your_ baby.”  
  
  
Tara looked down at the hand on her stomach beneath the water, then back into Willow’s eyes, confused for a few moments before she registered exactly what the redhead was saying.  
  
  
“You want to...?” she asked, moved beyond words, “You want to use my...?”  
  
  
“Well, yea,” Willow nodded with a big smile, “I know it’s more complicated and more expensive, but then, you know, our baby really would be a part of both of us. What do you think?”  
  
  
“I think I love you,” Tara grinned, “And that we’re gonna make a baby.”  
  
  
Willow really did squeal with excitement then and captured the blonde’s lips again for just a moment before pulling back, question in her eyes.  
  
  
“We can use your eggs? There’s like, hormone injections and I dunno how invasive the whole retrieval procedure is and-”  
  
  
“We’ll find out,” Tara cut the redhead off, rubbing the skin beneath the cheek she was still cupping, “And we’ll do it.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and nodded.  
  
  
“We’ll do it.”  
  
  
Their lips met again and Tara tried to turn her body further into Willow’s instinctively, making the water splash around them.  
  
  
“I normally only have to tell JJ to stop splashing,” Willow giggled as Tara blushed, then adopted a lower tone, “Wanna...move this into the bedroom?”  
  
  
Tara gave a demure smile and nodded, leaning forwards for a quick, chaste kiss, then standing and exiting the tub, holding her hand out to help Willow up as well before reaching for a towel on the rack behind them.  
  
  
“Don’t bother,” Willow purred, dropping her head to place kisses against the blonde’s shoulder, “You know I’m just gonna get you nice and wet anyway.”  
  
  
“You already are,” Tara replied with a shiver before regretfully stepping back and taking the almost-empty glass from her wife’s hand, “I’ll go get rid of these. We don’t want little hands finding it in the morning.”  
  
  
Willow exhaled slowly and nodded, running a hand through her hair.  
  
  
“Yea, good idea. I’ll check on Jake, make sure he’s sleeping okay. Bedroom in 5?”  
  
  
“Make it 3,” Tara grinned, bumping their hips together before putting the glasses down beside the sink and standing over the redhead, taking a hold of her hips, “I love you, you perfect, wonderful woman.”  
  
  
Willow swung her arms around the taller girl’s neck.  
  
  
“You know I’m not perfect. After 10 years together, I’d think you’d know that better than anyone.”  
  
  
Tara just gazed down adoringly.  
  
  
“Your imperfections are perfect to me.”  
  
  
Willow grinned.  
  
  
“You’re just sweet on me ‘cause I agreed to have your baby.”  
  
  
Tara’s entire face lit up and she dropped to her knees, placing kisses all over the redhead’s stomach.  
  
  
“Hey, it’s not in there yet,” Willow giggled, “Getting a little ahead of ourselves.”  
  
  
“Sorry,” Tara replied with a grin, straightening up again, “Just now that you’ve said it and we’re really gonna try...”  
  
  
Willow leant forwards for a chaste kiss before pulling back and playfully swatting her wife’s ass.  
  
  
“Come on, get rid of that wine. We need some major smoochie time.”  
  
  
Tara quick as lighting slipped a robe over her shoulder and grabbed the glasses again, bounding out of the door and down the stairs. Willow turned and blew out all the candles before grabbing her own robe and tip-toeing across the hall, quietly opening her son’s bedroom door and peering in on him.   
  
  
She smiled at his peacefully sleeping features and shut the door again before walking down the hallway to her own bedroom.  
  
  
She slipped her robe off her shoulders and hung it on the back of the door before going over to the bed and lying down on her side, facing the doorway, with her top leg bent just slightly over her bottom one and resting her head on her palm in what she hoped was a seductive pose.  
  
  
Tara apparently seemed to think so as when she arrived into the room a moment later, a huge grin spread across her face.  
  
  
“Like something you see?” Willow asked, matching her wife’s grin.  
  
  
“I most certainly do,” Tara replied, slinking towards the bed and was about to climb on when the smaller girl held up a hand.  
  
  
“You know this bed is a no-clothing zone.  
  
  
“How could I forget?” Tara asked with a sensuous half-smile, pulling the tie on her robe with one hand to loosen it before shrugging it off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor, “This better?”  
  
  
“Muchly,” Willow replied with a waggle of her eyebrows and rolled herself onto her back as the blonde climbed on top of and gazed down at her, “Hi.”  
  
  
“Hi.”  
  
  
They both stayed staring into each other’s eyes with small, serene smiles on their faces until Tara placed the gentlest of kisses against her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered reverently, nuzzling their noses together, “Woman of my dreams.”  
  
  
Willow brought her hand around and gently massaged the back of the blonde’s neck.  
  
  
“Owner of my heart.”  
  
  
The side of Tara’s lips curved into a wider smile and she let one hand move to rest over the redhead’s stomach.  
  
  
“Mother of my children.”  
  
  
Willow felt a rush of warmth inside her at the use of the pluralised form of the sentence Tara had said to her only ever in the singular.  
  
  
“Not yet,” she said quietly and Tara just gave her another soft kiss.  
  
  
“Soon.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small shiver of delight.  
  
  
“I can’t wait. Ever since Ella was born, I’ve had this, I dunno...aching womb.”  
  
  
Ella was the 2 month old daughter of Jesse and Alice; the only of their friends apart from Xander and Anya who had decided to have a baby. Willow had watched as Alice went through her pregnancy and though she saw her friend struggle with the harder parts, like any woman would, it had sparked a longing in her to experience the same things.   
  
  
She had watched Anya go through the same things, of course, when she was pregnant with Alex, but had been too consumed with JJ being a newborn and enjoying their new family to pay much heed to any biological yearnings she had.  
  
  
“All that time, sweetie?” Tara asked gently, “Why didn’t you talk to me about this sooner?”  
  
  
Willow gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“You never mentioned it either.”  
  
  
Tara gave an almost imperceptible nod and moved to cup her wife's cheek, stroking the skin beneath her thumb.  
  
  
“You’re right. But it doesn’t matter; we’ve talked about it now. And we’re gonna have a baby.”  
  
  
Willow bit her bottom lip excitedly.  
  
  
“We’re gonna have a baby.”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes for a moment and just smiled before reopening them and smirking down at her wife.  
  
  
“I desperately need to make love to you.”  
  
  
Willow murmured a sound of approval as warm lips covered her own, eagerly responding until she felt a shiver go up her wife’s spine. Not knowing if it was from cold or arousal, she played it safe and reached down for the blanket, covering them completely.   
  
  
“I love you, Mrs. Rosenberg-Maclay,” Tara whispered between kisses and felt Willow smile against her lips.  
  
  
“I never get tired of being called that.”  
  
  
Tara smiled back.  
  
  
“How about being called my wife?”  
  
  
Willow gave a soft sigh of contentment as Tara began trailing kisses down her neck.  
  
  
“That’s wonderful too.”  
  
  
Tara moved her lips up to the redhead’s ear and sucked on her lobe for a moment, then blew hot air over, causing a shiver against her, before lowering her voice to a sensual whisper.  
  
  
“How about feeling my tongue deep inside you?”  
  
  
Willow audibly inhaled as her body suddenly became overcome with desire and she started pushing on the blonde’s shoulders.  
  
  
“Yes, yes, yes.”  
  
  
“Calm down,” Tara chuckled, “I haven’t even started yet.”  
  
  
Willow just started squirming, feeling a steady throb between her legs.  
  
  
“Baby, please, I’m so wet for you.”  
  
  
Tara dropped a hand between their bodies and let two fingers glide along her wife’s inner lips with a moan.  
  
  
“Mmhh, yea...you are.”  
  
  
Willow moaned at the light contact but craved so much more and pushed on the taller girl’s shoulders again.  
  
  
“Tara, please!”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow playfully above the smaller girl before giving her a half smile and beginning a kissing descent down her body. Willow exhaled slowly as she felt her whole body tingle in anticipation and bent her knees beneath the blanket as she felt her wife settle between her legs.  
  
  
“Ah!” she cried out when Tara wasted no time in sinking her tongue into her folds, “Mmhhhh...”  
  
  
Tara ran her tongue along the redhead’s lips and grinned when she felt a hand press down on her head through the blanket without letting up her teasing.  
  
  
“Mmhh, Tara...you know what I want...”  
  
  
Tara just continued to leisurely stroke her wife’s most intimate area. She knew Willow loved to be teased as much as she loved to do the teasing, even if the redhead would never admit it. And even if the pressing on her head just got more insistent.   
  
  
Willow tried again to get some more focused contact on her heated flesh by bucking her hips but resigned herself to accepting the teasing when her wife made no effort to concentrate on where she wanted her to – not that it was much of a resignation, Tara was completely right.   
  
  
She loved to be teased.   
  
  
She knew it would make the payoff so much better.  
  
  
“That feels so good, baby,” she softly purred, slipping her hand beneath the blanket to gently stroke the blonde’s hair, “Mmhh...”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she felt the redhead give herself over completely to her touch and rewarded her letting her tongue flick over her clit.  
  
  
Willow let out a soft groan and clutched at the hair under her hand, her neck straining back against the pillows as she felt Tara start to build her up, alternating between flicking and sucking her pleasure nub.  
  
  
“Don’t stop, baby...”  
  
  
Tara brought her hands up to grip her wife’s hips as they started bucking into her face and dragged her tongue down her lover’s entrance, slipping it inside and moaning at the feeling the redhead’s inner walls around her.  
  
  
Willow gasped sharply and shot up in the bed for just a moment before falling back down onto it and calling out loudly.  
  
  
“Oh god, Tara, yes!”  
  
  
“Will, sweetheart...”  
  
  
Willow groaned as she heard her wife’s quiet words slip up to her from under the covers.  
  
  
“I know, I know, quiet,” she puffed out, bucking her hips again, “Please don’t stop.”  
  
  
She bit her lip to contain the moans threatening to erupt from her as Tara entered her again, curling her tongue and hitting against her sweet spot in a steady rhythm, lifting her higher and higher at every thrust.   
  
  
She clapped a hand out her mouth when the moans started to escape her lips and gasped again as she felt the tension inside her start to break.  
  
  
“Ta-Ta-Tar-”   
  
  
The rest of her screams were muffled as she grabbed the pillow next to her and held it over her face, her body writhing in pleasure as her orgasm washed over her again and again.  
  
  
Tara could the stifled sound of her name being called repeatedly and tightened her grip on the redhead’s hips to keep her in place as she lapped up the rewards of her efforts and brought her lover down from her high.   
  
  
Eventually she felt Willow still completely and gave a final, languid lick before trailing her lips up the smaller girl’s body and popping her head out from under the blanket.  
  
  
“Jesus, Tara,” Willow said, still breathless, her cheeks bright red and her hair mussed, “That was...that was...I mean, just...I haven’t come like that since-”  
  
  
“Last night?” Tara cut her wife off with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.  
  
  
“Well, yea,” Willow giggled, stretching her body out beneath the blonde’s, before sighing wistfully, “You ever miss the times when we didn’t have to worry about little ears waking up ‘cause we were having scream-y, noisy, mind-blowing sex?”  
  
  
Tara opened her mouth to say something but Willow continued before she had a chance.  
  
  
“Not that the sex isn’t still mind-blowing, it is, so much, or that I’d give up JJ for anything, I love that boy, I’d die for that boy, it’s just sometimes I feel like screaming your name so loud the walls shake and–”  
  
  
She was cut off as Tara placed a finger against her lips and then kissed her softly.  
  
  
“I know,” Tara whispered, pulling back just an inch and nuzzling their noses together, “Let’s go away next weekend. Just you and me. Have some proper alone time, you know before we...start things.”  
  
  
She put a hand over the redhead’s stomach to indicate what she meant and Willow smiled.  
  
  
“I like that idea. Becky and Brian went to these cabins over in Bloomfield for their anniversary last year; they said they were really nice. Secluded.”  
  
  
Tara smirked.  
  
  
“So you can scream my name so loud the walls shake?”  
  
  
Willow blushed but nodded.  
  
  
“Yes.”  
  
  
“I’m in,” Tara whispered, “I’m sure your Dad and Michelle won’t mind having JJ for the weekend.”  
  
  
“We’ll ask tomorrow,” Willow replied, still smiling, “And I’ll get the details from Becky about the cabins.”  
  
  
Tara smiled down at her wife.  
  
  
“Perfect.”  
  
  
Willow leaned up for another sweet kiss before she felt Tara start to move off of her and grabbed her shoulders to keep her in place.  
  
  
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow, “‘Cause I know there is no way you were about to roll offa me and go to sleep before I’ve had my way with you.”  
  
  
“My sincerest apologies,” Tara grinned back and Willow felt her spread her legs above her, “I’m yours to be had.”  
  
  
Willow snaked her hands down the blonde’s back and cupped her ass, squeezing her cheeks firmly.  
  
  
“I love you.”  
  
  
Tara gave a low chuckle.  
  
  
“You just love my ass.”  
  
  
“Pffft, you’re the ass-gal in this marriage,” Willow scoffed playfully, before suddenly rolling them so she was on top, “And I...am the breast-gal.”  
  
  
Tara giggled as Willow’s head slipped under the blanket and she started kissing circles around her breasts. The taller girl relaxed into the bed, a quiet moan escaping her lips when the redhead latched onto her nipple.  
  
  
“Oooh...mmhh...”  
  
  
Willow harshly tugged the blonde’s nipple between her teeth and heard a groan of approval from above so brought her hand up to palm her wife’s other breast as she sucked on the hardening peak in her mouth.  
  
  
“Ugh sis goog,” Willow tried to speak in appreciation but her words were indecipherable as her mouth consumed her lover’s breast.  
  
  
Tara just moaned in response and grabbed the redhead’s hand under the blanket, thrusting it towards her center. Willow took the not-so-subtle hint and let two fingers slide into her copious wetness and instantly started rubbing over her clit as she continued to suck the blonde’s flesh into her mouth.  
  
  
“Uhhh...mmhh...Willow...” Tara groaned quietly, moving her hips to try and get more friction, “Oh god...mmhh, I need your lips, Willow, please.”  
  
  
Willow released her wife’s breast and started trailing her lips down Tara’s stomach until she felt two hands grab her head and pull her upwards.  
  
  
“I meant up here,” Tara breathed before crushing their lips together.  
  
  
Willow eagerly responded to the kiss, pushing her tongue forwards into her lover’s mouth, her eyebrows shooting up and a loud moan being swallowed by Tara when two fingers entered her unexpectedly.  
  
?  
“Willow...” Tara whispered into the kiss, “Please...”  
  
  
Willow realised she’d unintentionally stilled her hand motions when Tara had entered her and quickly moved her digits down and slipped them inside her wife.  
  
  
Tara’s whole body jolted at the feel of the redhead’s invading fingers and a sharp gasp left her before she rolled them so she was on top and started bucking her hips wildly against the smaller girl’s hand as she too delved deeply inside her lover.  
  
  
“Oh god, I’m...” Willow whispered, groaning and shutting her eyes tightly, “Baby, together.”  
  
  
Tara moved so her forehead was resting against her wife’s and gave her a soft kiss. Willow’s spare hand flew to clutch the blonde’s hair as the kiss instantly sparked a tumbling of pleasure throughout her body.   
  
  
She felt Tara contract around her fingers and shake above her at the same time, so she opened her eyes and watched the look of unadulterated bliss evident on her lover’s face, her features contorted in ecstasy.   
  
  
She could feel the heavy, hot breath of her wife’s release on her lips and moved her hand down from the blonde’s hair to cup her cheek.  
  
  
“God, you’re beautiful.”  
  
  
Tara fluttered her eyes open and gazed down at the redhead for a moment as she continued to regain her breath before placing the gentlest of kisses against both of her eyelids, then her nose and finally her lips.  
  
  
“I love you.”  
  
  
Willow leant up for another loving kiss.  
  
  
“I love you too.”  
  
  
They shared a smile and enjoyed their closeness for a few moments before Tara gently extracted her fingers and rolled off her wife, effectively removing the redhead’s fingers from her body as well. She lightly stretched her limbs under the blanket and gave an appreciate moan of the warm and tingly feelings coursing through her.  
  
  
“That was wonderful.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and turned her head to place kisses along her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Always is.”  
  
  
Tara murmured an agreement and felt the redhead move onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow. Willow ran her hand across the blonde’s stomach and lightly held onto her waist before settling her body down so she was nestled into wife’s side, her head cushioned just above the taller girl’s breasts.  
  
  
“You know why I love you?” she asked, nuzzling her cheek into her wife’s skin, “Like, really?”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she pondered the question.  
  
  
“You love me for the same reason I love you. Because we make each other ridiculously happy and have the most wonderful family in the world.”  
  
  
Willow just grinned cheekily.  
  
  
“Nah. It’s ‘cause you’ve got a great rack.”


	3. Chapter 3

  
  
Tara smiled and lightly wiped some hair from the brow of her sleeping wife’s forehead. She’d woken just a few minutes beforehand and welcome the opportunity to just gaze at the face of the woman she loved so much.   
  
  
That was until the dull ache in her bladder that she’d woken up with started to become too much to bear and she went to move off of the bed.  
  
  
“You better not be about to leave me alone in this bed for the _second morning in a row_ without morning snuggles.”  
  
  
Tara smiled at the sound of her wife’s voice and threw her legs back onto bed, wrapping an arm around the redhead’s waist. Willow cautiously peeked one eye open and upon seeing Tara lying beside her once again, smiled happily and opened them both.   
  
  
She reached up and grabbed the back of the taller girl’s neck, pulling her on top of her and bringing their lips together.  
  
  
“Morning,” she whispered when they pulled apart, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind her wife’s ear, “Sleep well?”  
  
  
“The best,” Tara grinned, “You were in my arms.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and scrunched up her nose.  
  
  
“You should stop trying to woo me with those compliments, you know. I’m a married woman.”  
  
  
Tara feigned shock.  
  
  
“You are?”  
  
  
“Oh yea,” Willow nodded seriously, “I married a slammin’ hottie.”  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow, a grin on her face.  
  
  
“Oh really?”  
  
  
Willow once again nodded before smirking.  
  
  
“Not much in the brains department, but hey, you take what you can get.”  
  
  
Tara narrowed her eyes.  
  
  
“Watch it.”  
  
  
Willow looked away in mock-contemplation.  
  
  
“Oh wait, no, my wife...my wife...” she said before looking back at Tara with a grin, “No, my wife is _incredibly_ smart. And beautiful. And she’s the kindest person I know. And I love her.”  
  
  
Tara smiled shyly.  
  
  
“Now who’s wooing who?”  
  
  
Willow grinned again.  
  
  
“And I mentioned she’s a slammin’ hottie, right?”  
  
  
Tara laughed and swooped her head down to capture the redhead’s lips. Willow smiled as their lips lightly moved against each other in soft kisses until she felt an odd movement against her legs and pulled away, a curious look on her face.  
  
  
“Baby, not that I mind you rubbing yourself against me,” she started with a giggle, “But what are you doing?”  
  
  
Tara looked away and blushed.  
  
  
“I kind of have to pee.”  
  
  
“Tara!” Willow replied in playful exasperation, pushing the blonde’s shoulders upwards, “Go pee! Jeez.”  
  
  
“Well I tried before and you pulled me back!” Tara responded, though started to roll off the redhead.  
  
  
“I didn’t know you were leaving on a bladder-related emergency,” Willow retorted as the taller girl stood up and grabbed her robe, “I’ll meet you downstairs.”  
  
  
“I’ll make pancakes!”  
  
  
Tara’s loud voice came from down the hallway as she ran towards the bathroom and Willow chuckled for a moment before throwing the blanket off her body and stretching as she walked over to the dresser and retrieved clothes for the day.   
  
  
She pulled them on and ran her hairbrush through her hair before making her way downstairs and popping her head into the living room, where JJ was sitting on the floor a foot away from the television, staring intently at the cartoon playing out on the screen, still in his pyjamas.  
  
  
“Morning little man.”  
  
  
“Morning Momma,” JJ replied, not letting his gaze falter from the television for even a second.  
  
  
Willow chuckled quietly and leant against the doorframe.  
  
  
“Did you have any breakfast?”  
  
  
JJ shook his head, still not looking at his mother. Willow smiled.  
  
  
“Mommy’s making pancakes.”  
  
  
The little boy’s head shot around at this, his eyes wide with excitement.  
  
  
“Funny shapes??”  
  
  
“You bet,” Tara’s voice was heard as she appeared and wrapped her arms around her wife’s waist, resting her head on the redhead’s shoulder.  
  
  
JJ jumped up and started running towards the kitchen.  
  
  
“I want a fire truck!”  
  
  
“Guess I’m making a fire truck,” Tara laughed as she released the redhead and they walked to the kitchen as well.  
  
  
“I want a heart,” Willow said as she sat on a stool by the island and lifted JJ to sit on the countertop.  
  
  
“As ever,” Tara replied with a smile, taking a bowl from the cupboard and cracking some eggs into it.  
  
  
“What can I say?” Willow grinned, “I like you giving me your heart.”  
  
  
Tara paused from where she was pouring flour into the bowl and leant over the island so her lips were just centimetres away from the redhead’s.  
  
  
“I gave you my heart the first moment I saw you.”  
  
  
Willow closed the small gap between them and kissed her wife sweetly for a few moments until an exasperated sigh was heard off to the side.  
  
  
“Pancakes won't make them themselves.”  
  
  
Both girls pulled apart with an audible pop and Willow gaped at her son.  
  
  
“Hey, cheeky. That wasn’t very nice.”  
  
  
“You’re always kissing,” JJ pouted, folding his arms over his chest, “It’s icky.”  
  
  
“It is not ‘icky’,” Willow started defensively but Tara put a hand on her shoulder to stop her saying any more.  
  
  
“We kiss because we love each other,” Tara said, crouching down just slightly so she was eye-level with her son, “Someday you’re gonna meet someone and you’re gonna love them lots and lots and you’re gonna want to kiss them too.”  
  
  
JJ looked sceptical.  
  
  
“No I’m not. It’s yucky.”  
  
  
“Oh you will,” Tara replied with a small laugh, “I promise you won’t always feel like that.”  
  
  
“And until then,” Willow continued, “Until that time many, many, _many_ years from now, when you’re like...30...until then, you’ll just have to deal with me kissing your Mom. And less of the cheekiness.”  
  
  
JJ dropped his arms to his side and shrugged.  
  
  
“Okay. Sorry.”  
  
  
“It’s okay, little man,” Tara replied, taking one of her son’s small hands and lacing their fingers together, “You gonna help me make the pancakes?”  
  
  
JJ nodded happily and grabbed the large wooden spoon and the bowl of unmixed-batter, placing it on his lap as he began stirring.  
  
  
“It’s not working,” he said after a moment when the mixture wasn’t turning into the normal creamy blend he was used to seeing.  
  
  
“It needs the milk, sweetie,” Tara said gently, retrieving the milk from the refrigerator and pouring some into the bowl, “Now try.”  
  
  
JJ started stirring again and smiled when the batter began to take form. Willow supervised the mixing to make sure the kitchen didn’t become covered in flour and Tara went to heat the pan that they were going to cook the pancakes on.  
  
  
“Is this okay, Momma?” JJ asked, thrusting the bowl towards his mother.  
  
  
“Looks perfect, baby boy,” Willow replied, taking the bowl and discreetly stirred the last of the lumps out, “Why don’t you go get into some clothes and your pancake will be ready by the time you’re finished.”  
  
  
JJ nodded his head in agreement and Willow lifted him down to the ground before he scurried off upstairs to get changed. Willow grabbed the bowl and brought it over to her wife, placing it on the countertop beside the blonde before embracing her from behind.  
  
  
“30, sweetie?” Tara asked with a laugh as she spooned some of the batter onto the pan and formed what she hoped resembled a fire truck.  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow replied seriously, “He can kiss when he’s 30 and only if I say it’s okay.”  
  
  
Tara laughed again.  
  
  
“Willow, _we’re_ 30\. And we’ve been doing a lot more than kissing for 11 years.”  
  
  
Willow frowned as she rested her chin against the blonde’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Yes, well, we’re different. That’s my little boy you’re talking about.”  
  
  
Tara flipped the pancake in the pan.  
  
  
“He’s my little boy too. I just mean we’re gonna have to accept that he will grow up eventually.”  
  
  
“A very long time from now,” Willow protested, before smiling, “And then we’ll have another little Rosenberg-Maclay around too.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head around and pressed her lips against her wife’s for just a second before turning back to the pan until Willow’s voice piped up again.  
  
  
“I changed my mind. I want a star.”  
  
  
“A star?”   
  
  
“Yes. A star. Your name means star.”  
  
  
Tara watched the batter sizzle, turning a golden-brown.  
  
  
“Are you saying you want to eat me?” she asked before realising how that sounded and cleared her throat with a blush, “I didn’t mean it like that.”  
  
  
“You sure?” Willow asked with a giggle, squeezing the blonde’s mid-section, before lowering her voice to a whisper, “‘Cause that can be arranged...I could take you...nice and slowly...or we could...take each other...our faces...and our tongues...buried deep–”  
  
  
“Momma, I did something wrong with the buttons.”  
  
  
Willow sighed quietly as she heard her son’s voice pipe up behind her and placed a kiss against her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“We’ll continue this conversation later,” she said in an almost inaudible whisper before loosening her hold on the blonde and spinning around, dropping to her knees in front of JJ and taking a hold of his shirt, “Oh, you just missed the bottom button, honey. Makes all the others skew-y too. See?”  
  
  
JJ looked down at where one side of his shirt was just slightly longer than the other and gave a firm nod in understanding before going about undoing and re-buttoning the article of clothing.  
  
  
“One fire truck,” Tara spoke up, turning around and placing a plate on the island, “Would you like some strawberries on it to make it all red?”  
  
  
JJ nodded excitedly as he climbed onto a stool and Willow put a hand on her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
“I’ll get them.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and returned to the stove as Willow got the basket of strawberries from the refrigerator and a knife from the drawer, cutting them on the chopping board that lived on the countertop and then splaying them over her son’s pancake.  
  
  
“One _red_ fire truck,” she said with a smile, “Eat up while it’s hot.”  
  
  
“And one star,” Tara said, placing a plate in front of her wife, “Sorry the spikes are a little blunt.”  
  
  
“Looks yummy,” Willow replied, sitting on a stool beside JJ who was wolfing down his breakfast, “Thank you, baby.”  
  
  
JJ paused from where his fork was halfway to his mouth and looked at his redheaded mother curiously.  
  
  
“Why do you call Mommy ‘baby’? She’s not a baby. She’s a Mommy.”  
  
  
Willow laughed as she chewed on her pancake.  
  
  
“Well she’s _your_ Mommy but she’s _my_ baby.”  
  
  
“But she’s not,” JJ protested with a confused frown, “She’s a grown-up. Babies are all small and cry a lot and need their diaper changed.”  
  
  
“Ah,” Willow replied, before leaning towards her son conspiringly, “You wanna know why I call her baby?”  
  
  
JJ nodded, his eyes wide as he prepared to be let in on the secret. Willow just grinned and spoke in a stage-whisper for effect.  
  
  
“It’s ‘cause she likes to be cuddled.”  
  
  
Tara laughed loudly as she sat down opposite the other two with her own plate and Willow just winked at her. JJ contemplated the answer for a moment before deciding he accepted it and quickly finished his food.  
  
  
“Can I see Alex today?” he asked, stepping off the stool with his plate and bringing it over to the sink, “You said you’d call Aunty Anya and ask!”  
  
  
“I know, and I will,” Willow replied with a playful roll of her eyes, “Let me finish my breakfast first.”  
  
  
“Well, finish fast,” JJ replied, his tone not hiding his disdain.  
  
  
“Hey!” Willow said, turning and looking her son in the eye, “What did I say about being cheeky? Keep it up and you won’t see Alex for a very long time.”  
  
  
JJ scuffed his foot against the floor.  
  
  
“You’re so annoying!” he yelled before running out of the kitchen and up the stairs.  
  
  
Willow’s nostrils flared and she jumped off the stool.  
  
  
“Jacob James Rosenberg-Maclay, you get back down here right now! Right now!” she yelled at him and was about to run after him when she felt a hand entwine with her own and pull her back.  
  
  
“Willow, please don’t yell at him,” Tara said quietly, having moved off her seat.  
  
  
“Tara, he can’t talk to us like that!” Willow replied, the anger evident in her eyes and voice.  
  
  
“I know,” Tara gently soothed, moving her hands to her wife’s shoulders, “And he’s in trouble. But please don’t yell at him. I don’t...I don’t ever want him to be scared of us.”  
  
  
Willow’s whole demeanour instantly softened when she heard her wife’s words and she nodded quietly.  
  
  
“Yea. No, you’re right. I don’t want that either.”  
  
  
“It’s just...” Tara started with a small sigh, “I’m not trying to say you’re anything like my...I know you’d never hit him, ever, but the shouting can be just as scary and I just–”  
  
  
“Shush, baby, I know,” Willow replied, her tone the soothing one this time, as she brought her hands up to the blonde’s neck and rubbed it gently, “Hey, we agreed when he was little, remember? We’re a no-yelling household. I’m sorry. Thanks for stopping me before I actually really yelled at him.”  
  
  
Tara just leant forwards and placed a warm kiss against the redhead’s forehead.  
  
  
“God only help us when he’s a teenager.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small laugh and shook her head.  
  
  
“I’ve heard of the terrible twos but never the terrible fives. What’s gotten into him? Twice in twenty minutes he was rude to us.”  
  
  
“Oh the ever-present frustrations of being a five-year-old,” Tara replied dramatically before lowering her voice just a little, “I think it’s normal.”  
  
  
Willow sighed and rubbed her temple.  
  
  
“Yea. Okay. I’ll go talk to him. Will you call Anya? He’s been looking forward to seeing Alex all week, I don’t think it’s fair to not let him see him over this,” she replied and sighed again as she tried to think of a suitable punishment, “No cars for the weekend?”  
  
  
Tara nodded in agreement.  
  
  
“That seems fair.”  
  
  
Willow nodded as well and felt her shoulder being given a quick squeeze before she departed towards the stairs. She looked back for a moment to see Tara picking up the phone and bounded up the stairs and to the end of the hallway to JJ’s room.   
  
  
The door was open and she peeked in to see the little boy sitting on his bed, his knees brought up to his chest and a very evident scowl on his face.  
  
  
She walked further into the room and walked over to his bed, sitting down and folding her legs underneath herself so she was facing her son.  
  
  
“We need to talk about what just happened, little man,” she said and JJ lowered his legs but wouldn’t meet his mother’s eye, “Look at me, JJ.”  
  
  
JJ took it as a good sign that he wasn’t being called by his full name and hesitantly brought his gaze up to Willow’s.  
  
  
“That wasn’t very nice down there, son,” Willow said gently, wanting her son to understood why his behaviour wasn’t acceptable, “It’s not nice to be rude to anybody, it hurts their feelings.”  
  
  
JJ lowered his gaze again.  
  
  
“Did I hurt your feelings?”  
  
  
“Yea, you did,” Willow replied and felt her heart constrict at the look of anguish that crossed her son’s face.  
  
  
“I didn’t mean to,” JJ replied quietly and sheepishly, “I just really wanted to see Alex.”  
  
  
Willow sighed and took both of JJ’s hands.  
  
  
“I know. But you have to be patient. Okay? Even if you really wanna see your friend or you really want a pancake but me and Mommy are kissing,” she said with a smile and JJ gave a small smile in response.  
  
  
“I’m sorry, Momma. I won’t be cheeky anymore.”  
  
  
“Well that’s good,” Willow replied before giving a soft sigh, “I’m taking your cars away for the weekend as punishment.”  
  
  
JJ’s entire face fell and he looked like he was about to argue before thinking better of it.  
  
  
“All of them?” he asked, clearly upset, “Even my new green one?”  
  
  
“All of them,” Willow confirmed, though her tone was sad as well – she hated seeing her son upset. But she knew she had to follow through, “You can have them back on Monday. Provided there’s no more backchat between now and then.”  
  
  
“There won’t be,” JJ replied forlornly, the prospect of being without his favourite toys certainly having made him learn his lesson.  
  
  
Willow was stopped from replying as she saw something out of the corner of her eye and looked over to see Tara leaning against the doorway. She nodded for her to come in and the blonde walked over and sat on the edge of her bed beside her wife.  
  
  
“How’s it going in here?” she asked gently, addressing the question to both of the other two.  
  
  
“I’m sorry, Mommy,” JJ piped up, “I’m sorry I was cheeky and hurt your feelings.”  
  
  
Tara moved her hand forward and cupped her son’s cheek.  
  
  
“Thank you for apologising.”  
  
  
JJ nodded against his mother’s hand before looking between the two women awkwardly.  
  
  
“What is it, baby boy?” Willow asked when she saw the boy wanted to ask something.  
  
  
JJ gave an embarrassed shrug.  
  
  
“Can I have a hug?”  
  
  
Willow pulled her son to her and squeezed him tight.  
  
  
“Of course you can have a hug.”  
  
  
“We love you more than anything, JJ,” Tara added, wrapping her arms around both her wife and her son from the side, “Never forget that.”  
  
  
JJ took comfort in the hug for a few moments before pulling back. Tara took the opportunity to smile at him.  
  
  
“You wanna see Alex?”  
  
  
JJ’s face lit up.  
  
  
“Really?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara nodded, “And everyone else too. We’re going to a family barbeque.”  
  
  
“We are?” Willow asked with a smile.  
  
  
“Anya just invited us, they’re having everyone ‘round,” Tara explained to her wife, “I said we’d love to go.”  
  
  
“Of course we would,” Willow replied before looking over at JJ with a curious smile and started to raise her hand, making it visibly shake, “Uh oh...I think something's happening...”   
  
  
JJ's eyes widened and he tried to jump from the bed, but Willow grabbed him first, starting a tickle attack on him.  
  
  
“Tickle monster!”  
  
  
Tara smiled widely as she watched the interaction and JJ squirmed.  
  
  
“Momma, stop!” he laughed before looking at Tara, “Mommy, make her stop!”  
  
  
“Mommy can’t make me stop,” Willow replied with a grin, and Tara’s smile faltered.  
  
  
“Willow, don’t...”   
  
  
Tara tried to reason with her wife but the redhead had that glint in her eye and the older blonde soon found herself on her back beside her son, squealing as Willow’s fingers attacked them both.  
  
  
“Momma, stop, stop!”  
  
  
“Willow, please!”  
  
  
“Momma!”  
  
  
“Willow!”  
  
  
“MOMMA!”  
  
  
Willow paused in her actions at her son’s unusually loud scream and JJ puffed his cheeks out in relief.  
  
  
“I really have to pee!” he yelled, holding himself between his legs as he jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.  
  
  
Willow laughed and watched him scurry out of the room before turning back to Tara.  
  
  
“He’s a good boy.”  
  
  
Tara took some deep breaths as she recovered from the sudden tickling attack and smiled towards the door.  
  
  
“He’s our boy.”  
  
  
Willow smiled as well before moving so she was hovering over her wife and swooped down to capture the blonde’s lips. Tara moaned at the unexpected contact and entwined a hand in the smaller girl’s hair as the other ran down her back and under the waistband of her jeans.   
  
  
She rubbed over her wife’s panty-covered ass and was about to slip under the thin fabric when she realised what they were doing and removed her hand, pulling Willow’s lips away from her.  
  
  
“Sweetie, we’re making out on our son’s race-car bed,” she said with a small laugh when Willow began to pout.  
  
  
Willow looked around, suddenly remembering where they were before bouncing up and down slightly with a grin.  
  
  
“Kinda comfy...”  
  
  
Tara scoffed playfully.  
  
  
“Not a chance, red.”  
  
  
Willow looked at her wife disbelievingly, a grin still plastered on her face.  
  
  
“Who’re you calling red, blondie?”  
  
  
“You telling me you’re not a natural redhead?” Tara grinned back, “Don’t forget, I’ve seen you naked.”  
  
  
Willow feigned annoyance.  
  
  
“Have you been sneaking peeks at me in the shower again?” she asked with an exaggerated sigh, “Jeez, you marry someone and have a child with them and they think that gives them all the right in the world to just look at you naked.”  
  
  
“Yep,” Tara replied with a cheeky grin, “I touch you when you’re sleeping too.”  
  
  
Willow burst into a fit of giggles and couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss her wife’s lips again until a quiet voice piped up a minute later.  
  
  
“Um, Mommy and Momma, if it’s okay, could you please stop kissing so that I can see Alex? Please.”  
  
  
Willow pulled away and turned her head to see JJ standing a few feet away from them in the room, his hands clasped in front of him, swinging slightly.  
  
  
“I think we can,” Willow replied with a quick grin down at her wife before jumping up and walking over to her son, “Thank you for asking so nicely. Come on, let’s try out those shoelaces!”  
  
  
Tara heard JJ squeal excitedly from outside the room and pushed herself up on the bed just as Willow’s head popped back through the door, a slightly sad look on her face.  
  
  
“Can you collect his cars?” she asked quietly and got a nod in return, “Thanks.”  
  
  
Willow disappeared again and Tara sighed as she went over to the corner of the room where JJ kept his quite vast collection of toy cars. Neither girl liked punishing the boy and really rarely had to – he _was_ a good boy, but like any other child, had his moments.   
  
  
And taking his cars was especially hard for Tara since she was the one who had bought pretty much all of them for her son – she’d bought his first to congratulate him on completing his first day of Kindergarten and after seeing how much enjoyment he got from the small toy, had started picking one up whenever she one on display for him.   
  
  
Still, she was all too aware of the importance of proper discipline and knew that JJ having to go without his favourite toy for the weekend, as well as the talk from Willow, would stop him from repeating his bad behaviour again. Even if it broke her heart to know it would upset her son.  
  
  
She gathered the cars in her arms and brought them into her own bedroom, letting them fall into the drawer of her nightstand before going back down the stairs, peering into the living room where she saw JJ sitting on the sofa, frowning down at his shoes while Willow knelt in front of him.  
  
  
“No, little man, you have to loop it before. See?”  
  
  
JJ reached down and tried again to do what his mother had shown him but scowled when he couldn’t get it.  
  
  
“I can’t do it.”  
  
  
“Don’t worry, Jakey, you’ll get it,” Willow replied, putting a hand on her son’s knee, “It took me two weeks to be able to learn how to tie my laces.”  
  
  
“Really?” JJ asked with a sniffle.  
  
  
“Yep,” Willow nodded, smiling at the boy, “It just takes practice.”  
  
  
Tara walked further into the room and crouched down beside her wife.  
  
  
“Maybe I can help,” she said with a smile, “When I was learning to tie my laces, my Mom taught me a song to help me remember.”  
  
  
“She did?” JJ asked, looking down at his shoes, “Will you teach me?”  
  
  
“You bet. Watch me,” Tara replied and pulled her son’s laces loose, before getting ready to go through the actions of tying them again, “Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree. Criss-crossed the tree, trying to catch me. Bunny ears, Bunny ears, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side, beautiful and bold.”  
  
  
She pulled the laces tight but JJ still looked confused. Tara took each lace and formed a large loop, holding one loop in each hand.   
  
  
“These are the ‘bunny ears’,” she explained before started the song again, “Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree. Criss-crossed the tree...”  
  
  
She made an ‘X’ with the ears and continued.  
  
  
“Trying to catch me. Bunny ears, bunny ears jumped into the hole,” she pushed one of the loops into the hole she had created and pulled it through the other side, “Popped out of the other side, beautiful and bold.”   
  
  
She pulled the laces loose again and held them up for JJ to take.  
  
  
“Your turn.”  
  
  
JJ took the laces and placed his foot firmly on the floor.  
  
  
“Bunny ears, bunny ears...” he whispered to himself, “Playing by a tree...”  
  
  
He fumbled slightly after making the loops before remembering his mother’s actions and crossed them, then slipped the bigger loop inside the slightly smaller one.  
  
  
“Popped out of the other side, beautiful and bold!” he said as he pulled it through and shook his now-tied shoe excitedly, “Look, look!!”  
  
  
“Well done,” Tara beamed proudly.  
  
  
“That’s my boy,” Willow said, holding up her hand to high-five her son.  
  
  
“Thank you, Mommy, thank you Momma!” JJ squealed, throwing his arms around both his mother’s necks before running off again, “Where’s my other shoe?? Found it!!”  
  
  
Willow giggled and stood, pulling Tara up with her.  
  
  
“Lefts and rights, shoe laces. What’s he gonna learn next, the theory of relativity?” Willow asked with a laugh, “He’s so smart.”  
  
“Like his Momma,” Tara replied, giving the redhead a quick kiss on the cheek.  
  
  
Willow blushed and could only smile as Tara led her into the foyer and clapped her hands together.  
  
  
“Come on. We’ve got a family barbeque to go to.”


	4. Chapter 4

  
  
“Alex!”  
  
  
“JJ!”  
  
  
The two boys high-fived with both hands as JJ ran into Xander and Anya’s backyard, his two mothers on his heels. The boys instantly ran off to Alex’s sandbox in the corner of the yard and started playing.  
  
  
“Welcome to our fortress of charcoaled goodness,” Xander yelled from behind the barbeque, an apron that said ‘kiss the chef’ hanging on him, “We offer whatever meaty delights your stomach wishes. There’s also corn.”  
  
  
Willow laughed as she and Tara walked fully into the yard. They were the last ones to arrive, having been delayed when JJ had insisted on loosening and retying his shoes multiple times to make sure he had it right.   
  
  
Jesse was standing beside Xander behind the barbeque, a beer in his hand, while Alice was sitting on a lawn chair nearby, baby Ella quietly sleeping in her arms and conversing with Michelle and Becky.   
  
  
Buffy was holding a paper plate and loading it with some of the salads set up on a small table while Angel and Brian were discussing something that apparently required a lot of hand gestures on Brian’s part.   
  
  
Ira had gone over to the children, laughing at something they were saying as they played in the sandbox.  
  
  
The only person missing was–  
  
  
“Xander, I don’t see why we don’t charge admission to these things. I mean, we host at least 10 a year, if we just charged everyone $10 a head we’d–”  
  
  
“Anya, for the last time, we are not charging _family_ to come to a _family get-together_!” Xander replied irately as his wife walked out the back door of the house and back into the gathering, holding a bottle of beer, “I mean, god, we’ve been doing this for five years!”  
  
  
Anya sauntered up to the barbeque, her hands on her hips.  
  
  
“Yes, five years. 10 people. 10 parties for five years, that’s $5000, Xander. $5000! That could have bought me...”  
  
  
Everyone else either ignored the bickering couple or just chuckled, quite used to Anya’s suggestion for admission charges being applied to their gatherings.   
  
  
It always ended when Xander embarrassedly promised some new sex act (which he tried to hide in coded speak, but it was always obvious what he was referring to) or a gift for his wife and the rest of the party would go on.  
  
  
Willow and Tara both walked towards where Alice, Michelle and Becky were sitting, with waves to the boys on the way and sat in two of the chairs provided.  
  
  
“Hello everyone,” Willow greeted warmly and smiled when Ella started to stir, “Hello little miss Ella.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as Willow leant over and started lightly tickling the baby’s stomach. Ella had Alice’s mousy-brown hair – currently tied up with a small red bow – but apart from that, she was identical to Jesse, right down to the way her lips curled just slightly into a smile before a full blown grin landed on her face and her loud laugh, echoing her father’s in both decibel and infectiousness.  
  
  
“She’s such a cutie,” Willow said, scrunching up her nose as Ella laughed.  
  
  
“Cutie, yea,” Alice scoffed playfully, “She’s certainly not a cutie when she needs her diaper changed. Oh boy, speaking of...”  
  
  
Alice held her daughter up and gave a cautious sniff, before groaning.  
  
  
“I’ll change her,” Willow said quickly, picking Ella up from her mother’s arms, “Is the bag inside?”  
  
  
Alice nodded and Willow quickly went off towards the house.  
  
  
“Damn, I wish I married your wife, Tara,” Alice commented.  
  
  
“Hey, I heard that!” Jesse’s mirth-filled voice called over to them, “I woulda changed her if you asked.”  
  
  
“Right, right,” Alice replied with a playful hand dismissal, “He’s all about being the helping husband now we’re in company.”  
  
  
Jesse was about to respond but a loud belch rose from his throat instead, making both him and Xander burst out laughing. Alice rolled her eyes.  
  
  
“30 year old men laughing about burping. I really do wish I’d married a woman,” Alice replied before looking at Michelle, “Or maybe I should just find an older man. Older men must have some kind of sophistication about them. Does Ira burp and laugh?”  
  
  
“Well, no,” Michelle replied, furrowing her brow, “But he does–”  
  
  
“I don’t want to know,” Tara cut her aunt off with a chuckle.  
  
  
“And hey, it’s not fair having conversations Tara can’t contribute to,” Becky piped up with a grin, patting Tara on the back, “What does she know about having to deal with the horrible habits of living with men? We should stick to something we all know about like–”  
  
  
“Sex.”  
  
  
Everyone turned at the sound of Anya’s voice but were stopped from saying anything as Buffy appeared beside her, happily munching on potato salad.  
  
  
“This stuff is amazing,” she said through mouthfuls, “It’s like creamy, carb-y perfectness.”  
  
  
Everyone was again stopped from responding as Willow returned, Ella giggling as she pulled at the chain around the redhead’s neck.  
  
  
“What are we talking about?”  
  
  
“Sex.”  
  
  
“Food.”  
  
  
Anya and Buffy spoke at the same time and Anya gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“Food during sex?” she suggested casually and Willow gave a nervous chuckle.  
  
  
“Maybe not while there’s little ears around, huh?” she said, handing Ella back over to her mother and giving the little girl a quick kiss on the forehead before sitting back down in her seat.  
  
  
“Ella’s too young to understand what we’re saying,” Anya replied, sitting down on a chair as well, “And the boys are over with Ira.”  
  
  
Willow kept her voice low and calm, not wanting to cause a scene.  
  
  
“I know that, Anya, but they could very easily sneak up and hear something they shouldn’t.”  
  
  
Anya narrowed her eyes and everybody instantly tensed.  
  
  
“Well, I for one want my son to have a healthy attitude towards sex.”  
  
  
Willow set her jaw and glared at the petite blonde.  
  
  
“So do I,” she said tersely, in a coarse whisper, her frustration levels rising, “But that doesn’t mean he needs to know whether his mothers prefer maple syrup or whipped cream when they’re doing it!”  
  
  
“You didn’t have to be involved in the conversation,” Anya retorted and anger flashed in Willow’s eyes.  
  
  
“Well he doesn’t need to know about his aunts and uncles either! God Anya, can you not hold a conversation of any magnitude for any amount of time without it involving sex? Jeez!”  
  
  
Willow stood up and stormed off into the house, surprising all the men, who hadn’t been privy to the argument that had brewed and erupted since the girls had kept their voices low.  
  
  
“Erm, I’ll...” Tara said, slowly standing, slightly shocked by what had happened, “I’ll just make sure she’s okay.”  
  
  
Tara went to move off but Anya suddenly stood and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.  
  
  
“No, I’ll go.”  
  
  
The smaller blonde went off towards the house and everyone else, bar the two boys who continued to obliviously play in the sandbox, stared after them until Buffy piped up.  
  
  
“Okay. I’ll bite. What the hell just happened?”  
  
  
[hr]  
  
  
Inside the house, Anya walked over to where Willow was standing in the kitchen, downing a glass of water.  
  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
  
Willow spun around at the sound of the other voice and stared at Anya.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
“I’m sorry,” Anya repeated with a shrug.  
  
  
She was still, and always would be, inherently Anya.   
  
  
She liked sex, she liked money and she very much liked talking about her two favourite things.   
  
  
But if having a child and being part of the large extended family she had been a part of over the last five years had taught her anything, it was that sometimes people didn’t appreciate her blunt nature.  
  
  
No, that was a lie, she had always been aware that people didn’t like it. But being part of a family made her care when _those_ people didn’t like it. She hadn’t meant to upset her redheaded friend and since she obviously had, was genuinely apologetic.  
  
  
“I understand you don’t want JJ to know about sex,” she continued matter-of-factly, “He is very young. So is Alex. And they should be children. So I’m sorry. I won’t bring up sex when they’re around anymore.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Willow replied, surprised. She’d expected Tara to come rushing after her, not Anya. She hadn’t even meant to react, or overreact as she felt she might have, the way she did, “Well, thank you. I’d appreciate it.”  
  
  
Anya nodded and there was an awkward silence for a moment before the blonde turned to leave but Willow stopped her.  
  
  
“Hey, no, wait, Ahn, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been all pissy with you. I mean, you throw everyone one a barbeque – admission free – and I just go off on one. It’s just...we had to take JJ’s cars away this morning and...”  
  
  
“Ah,” Anya replied with an understanding nod, “I hate having to punish Alex too.”  
  
  
“Yea,” Willow nodded back, “And then he learned to tie his laces and, god, he’s growing up but he’s not, ‘cause he’s still just a little boy, you know?”  
  
  
“Oh I know,” Anya replied with a smile, very happy to be talking about the one thing she loved more than sex and money. Her son, “Alex came home from school the other day reciting the whole alphabet. I cried for an hour.”  
  
  
Willow laughed.  
  
  
“So we’re agreed we’re just a bunch of highly-strung mothers who never want their little boys to grow up?”  
  
  
“Definitely,” Anya agreed seriously, through she was smiling, “So we should...hug now, right?”  
  
  
Willow just laughed again and moved to embrace Anya.  
  
  
“Yea. Sorry for being Ms. Grouchy.”  
  
  
Anya just hugged back for a moment before they both started walking back towards the yard.  
  
  
“Wait, while the boys aren’t around,” Anya said, right before Willow opened the door, “Do you guys use maple syrup or whipped cream?”  
  
  
Willow burst out laughing and shook her head playfully.  
  
  
“Maple syrup.”  
  
  
They both walked through the door, a curious look on Anya’s face.  
  
  
“Huh. I always pegged Tara as a whipped cream kind of girl.”  
  
  
The other eight adult’s heads all whipped around and Tara blushed bright red as the two sat back in the seats they had just vacated.  
  
  
“Don’t worry about it,” Willow whispered discreetly to her wife though that did nothing to appease Tara’s embarrassment.  
  
  
“So, uh, are we all good?” Jesse asked, taking a long swig from his beer.  
  
  
“We’re good,” Willow confirmed and everyone visibly exhaled.  
  
  
“Everyone resume normal festivities,” Xander called out, “And come and get some good eats!”  
  
  
Everyone stood and went to grab plates to put their food on, the boys finally leaving the sandbox.  
  
  
“I want a hot dog, Dad!” Alex shouted, running over and throwing himself at his father’s leg.  
  
  
“Me too, Uncle Xander!” JJ said, grabbing onto the other side of Xander’s leg, “Me too, me too!”  
  
  
“There’s plenty of hot dogs for everybody,” Xander chuckled, “Go and get plates and buns!”  
  
  
The boys ran off to do as they were instructed and Willow pulled Tara off to the side slightly. Willow put her hands on her wife's shoulders reassuringly.  
  
  
“Me and Anya sorted things, so don’t be worrying that pretty little head, okay? Just a case of...miscommunication.”  
  
  
“Was it miscommunication when she said I liked whipped cream?” Tara asked, puffing out a breath, “It’s not true anyway. I prefer maple syrup.”   
  
  
Willow grinned.  
  
  
“That’s what I told her.”  
  
  
Tara glared at her wife and Willow just giggled  
  
  
“Hey, I yelled at her in her own house, I had to give her something. I am nothing if not a woman of honour.”  
  
  
“You’re very lucky I’m madly in love with you,” Tara murmured before leaning in for a soft kiss.  
  
  
[hr]  
  
“Your mommies are always kissing.”  
  
  
JJ looked up from his hot dog over to where Alex was looking and rolled his eyes.  
  
  
“I know. It’s so annoying. But don’t tell anyone I said that ‘cause it would hurt their feelings and I don’t wanna hurt their feelings,” he replied before sighing, “I hurt Momma’s feelings this morning. It didn’t feel good.”  
  
  
“Did you say sorry?” Alex asked, chewing on his own food and JJ nodded, “My Daddy says as long as you say sorry and you really, _really_ mean it, like super mean it, then it’s okay.”  
  
  
JJ smiled.  
  
  
“Your Daddy’s cool.”  
  
  
Alex shrugged.  
  
  
“So are your mommies. Aunty Tara makes the bestest hot chocolate!”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically.  
  
  
“She made me some a few days ago and she put extra marshmallows _and_ she got an Oreo and smashed it all up and put it on top!”  
  
  
Alex’s eyes went wide.  
  
  
“We have Oreos!”  
  
  
JJ swallowed the last of his hot dog.  
  
  
“You do?”  
  
  
Alex nodded and both boys jumped up, dropping their paper plates on the ground and ran towards where Willow and Tara were still kissing softly.  
  
  
“Mommy, Mommy!”  
  
  
“Aunty Tara!”  
  
  
Willow had to grab onto her wife’s waist to keep her steady as the boys attached themselves to each of Tara’s legs.  
  
  
“What’s up, boys?” Tara asked with a laugh.  
  
  
JJ took a deep breath and put on his sweetest smile.  
  
  
“Mommy, will you pretty, pretty please with extra, extra sugar on top make me and Alex some hot chocolate ‘cause Alex has Oreos and we both ate all our hot dogs and everything.”  
  
  
“Please, Aunty Tara?” Alex continued, using the puppy dog eyes he’d inherited from his father, “Pleeassse?”  
  
  
Tara smiled and bent down to the boy’s level.  
  
  
“Do you want...marshmallows with that?”  
  
  
Both boys nodded and Tara straightened back up.  
  
  
“I guess I’m making hot chocolate. But only if I have my two little helpers.”  
  
  
The boys high-fived and started running towards the house.  
  
  
“Yea!”  
  
  
“Alright! Woohoo!”  
  
  
Tara laughed again and started to follow them, only to be stopped by Xander on the way, a smile on his face.  
  
  
“What are they so excited about?”  
  
  
“I’m making hot chocolate,” Tara replied and Xander’s face lit up.  
  
  
“You are?”  
  
  
“Yes...” Tara replied before giving her trademark half-smile, “Would you like some?”  
  
  
Xander nodded sheepishly and Tara turned around to face everyone else.  
  
  
“Would anyone else like some hot chocolate?”  
  
  
Eight other hands shot up, including Ira who shyly put his up with a blush.  
  
  
“Okay, hot chocolates all around,” Tara chuckled before turning towards the house again, “Thank god I have my little helpers.”  
  
  
“I can smash the Oreos,” Alex said excitedly as he pushed the door into the house open and walked through.  
  
  
“I can help!” JJ said, clapping his hands together as he ran towards the kitchen, “Mommy, come on!”  
  
  
“I’m here,” Tara replied with a laugh, taking a saucepan from the cupboard and turning the stove on, “Okay, we need cocoa and milk!”  
  
  
Alex pointed to a cupboard above the stove.  
  
  
“Cocoa is up there!”  
  
  
Tara opened the cupboard and took down the jar of cocoa while the boys both got the milk from the refrigerator, handing it up to her.  
  
  
“Thank you, boys,” Tara said with a smile at the children as she went about making the hot chocolate, “How are you liking school, Alex?”  
  
  
“It’s cool,” Alex replied with a shrug, “The other kids are nice and my teacher, Ms. Brady, she says I’m really smart!”  
  
  
Tara looked down at her nephew.  
  
  
“Your Mom told me you learned the alphabet.”  
  
  
Alex nodded enthusiastically and took a deep breath.  
  
  
“A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y and Z!”  
  
  
Tara clapped appreciatively.   
  
  
“Well done!”  
  
  
Alex blushed and looked down at his feet and JJ tugged on Tara’s pants.  
  
  
“I know the alphabet, too, Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara bent down and kissed her son on the forehead.  
  
  
“I know you do. ‘Cause you’re my special little guy,” she said before lowering her voice so only her son would hear, “But Alex is a little younger than you, remember? So he just learned the alphabet even though you’ve known it for a long time.”  
  
  
JJ looked contemplative.  
  
  
“Like how I just learned to tie my shoes?”  
  
  
“Exactly,” Tara smiled before turning and pulling both boys into a hug, “You’re both very, very smart.”  
  
  
“It’s cool you learned the alphabet,” JJ said to Alex as Tara returned to making the cocoa, “Want to play the alphabet game?”  
  
  
Alex looked at his friend wide-eyed.  
  
  
“What’s the alphabet game?”  
  
  
JJ started gesturing around the room with his hands.  
  
  
“It’s where you go through all the letters and find something in the room that starts with that letter.”  
  
  
Alex nodded his understanding.  
  
  
“So, like...apple?”  
  
  
“Yea!” JJ replied, punching a hand in the air triumphantly, “Okay, my turn. Um...bowl.”  
  
  
Tara quietly listened to the boys play their game as she stirred the hot chocolate until they got to ‘o’ and she heard a simultaneous gasp come from both of them before the two exclaimed loudly at the same time.  
  
  
“OREOS!”  
  
  
“You’re worse than your mother sometimes,” Tara chuckled, ruffling JJ’s hair, “Okay, okay, here are the Oreos. You can use your hands to smash them up but keep it in the bowl, okay?”  
  
  
She handed a pack of Oreos from the cupboard down to Alex and gave JJ a bowl. Both boys sat on the floor and started crushing the cookies into the bowl and Tara searched around for a moment before locating a circular tray and got down enough mugs for everyone, pouring the hot liquid from the pan into each of them.  
  
  
“How’re those Oreos coming along, boys?”  
  
  
Tara looked down and sighed when she saw both children had stuffed the cookies into their mouths and there were only a few crumbs in the bowl.  
  
  
“Boys...”  
  
  
“Sorry Aunty Tara,” Alex replied, dropping his head as he swallowed the cookie in his mouth.  
  
  
“Sorry, Mommy,” JJ echoed, “It’s okay if you say sorry and really mean it, right?”  
  
  
Tara bent down and put a hand on each of the boy’s shoulders.  
  
  
“Yes, it’s okay. But I want you to smash up the rest of these, okay? We have to share with everyone.”  
  
  
Both boys nodded and Tara returned to putting marshmallows and whipped cream on top of the cocoa while JJ smiled at Alex.  
  
  
“Your Daddy was right.”  
  
  
“My Daddy’s always right,” Alex replied, puffing out his chest in bravado, “That’s why I’m gonna be a cop for Halloween, like him and Uncle Jesse!”  
  
  
“I’mma be a fire fighter!” JJ replied, crushing the cookies into the bowl, “My Momma says we can go trick or treating together!”  
  
  
Alex’s face lit up.  
  
  
“Really?”  
  
  
JJ nodded before tugging at his mother’s trousers.  
  
  
“Mommy, when’s Halloween?”  
  
  
“Three weeks, little man,” Tara answered from above.  
  
  
Alex’s face lit up.  
  
  
“That’s not a lot!”  
  
  
“I know,” JJ beamed before looking down at the bowl, “Mommy, we’re done!”  
  
  
He stood up and handed the bowl up to his mother.  
  
  
“Thank you, JJ,” Tara replied, taking the bowl and sprinkling some on top of the two plastic green mugs she’d set aside before crouching down with them, “Now these are hot so let them cool, okay? And be very careful not to spill.”  
  
  
Both boys carefully took the handle of the mug and Alex licked the whipped cream from the top.  
  
  
“Mmhh, thank you Aunty Tara!”  
  
  
“Thanks, Mommy,” JJ said, slurping some of his own cocoa, “Can we drink these outside?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara replied, “But be careful carrying it. JJ, can you send your Momma in?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and the boys ran out to the yard looking for Willow, who was chatting with Becky.  
  
  
“Hey, Beck, you know those cabins you went to with Brian last spring? Do you still have their number?”  
  
  
Becky grinned.  
  
  
“Planning a little dirty weekend, are we?”  
  
  
Willow blushed but didn’t drop her gaze.  
  
  
“Planning a _wifey_ weekend. Me and Tara just need some ‘us’ time.”   
  
  
“Hey, you don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Becky smiled, whipping out her phone, “I have their number here. They’re really, really nice cabins.”   
  
  
Willow smiled to herself.   
  
  
“Great.”  
  
  
Becky smiled back and closed her phone.  
  
  
“Okay, number sent. If you need someone to take care of JJ, me and Brian are free.”   
  
  
“Thanks, Beck,” Willow smiled before her son ran straight towards her.   
  
  
“Um, Momma, Mommy would like to see you pretty please.”  
  
  
The two boys ran off again quickly, over Alex’s swing set and Willow chuckled.  
  
  
“I’m being summoned.”  
  
  
“Make sure she puts extra whipped cream on mine,” Buffy said from the side as the redhead stood.  
  
  
Willow just chuckled again and made her way into the house and into the kitchen.  
  
  
“You know, I’m pretty sure you could convince anyone out there to run away with you just on the promise of your hot chocolate alone.”  
  
  
Tara turned and peered over Willow’s shoulder, through the glass door out to the yard.  
  
  
“Really? ‘Cause I’ve had my eye on...” she trailed off with a grin and turned back to Willow, “Oh wait. Just you.”  
  
  
She leant down and placed a kiss against the bridge of her wife’s nose making the redhead smile.  
  
  
“I was told you needed me?”  
  
  
“Just to help carry,” Tara replied, gesturing to the now two trays of mugs, “If that’s okay.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow responded, moving over to the countertop, “Buffy wants extra whipped cream.”  
  
  
Tara pointed to a red mug that had cream topping it higher than the others.  
  
  
“She always does.”  
  
  
Willow smiled a bashful smile at her wife.  
  
  
“Does that mean I got extra sugar?”  
  
  
Tara got a cheeky smile on her face and pulled the redhead to her by her hips.  
  
  
“I’ll give you some extra sugar.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and threw her arms around the blonde’s neck and brought their lips together in a series of short, sweet kisses.  
  
  
“If you’re going to have sex, I suggest the laundry room,” Anya’s voice broke them apart a moment later, “The vibrations from the dryer really help things along.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and dropped her arms.  
  
  
“We weren’t going to have sex.”  
  
  
Anya shrugged.  
  
  
“It’s away from the children, right?” she said before peering over both of their shoulders, “I came for cocoa. I was told there was cocoa.”  
  
  
Tara picked up one of the mugs and handed it to her friend.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Anya replied with a nod of her head, “May I also suggest bringing the rest of the cocoa outside? Tantrums are beginning to be thrown and it’s not by the children. Unless of course you did want to have sex. We have plenty of rooms. I can bring Xander in to help me carry the cocoa.”  
  
  
“Thanks for the offer, Anya,” Tara replied with a blush, “But we’ve got it. Thanks.”  
  
  
Anya turned on her heels and Willow took a deep breath.  
  
  
“Don’t, Will,” Tara said gently when she saw her wife was about to say something, “Anya is Anya and she’s been a wonderful friend, despite her thinking we’re always trying to have sex. She always takes JJ when we need her to, she’s great at listening and offering a fresh prospective on situations and it was her investment advice that means we have enough savings in the bank that we were able to afford the car you love so much and how we’re going to be able to afford to...”  
  
  
She trailed off and put a hand on her wife’s stomach to indicate what she meant. Willow covered the blonde’s hand and grinned.  
  
  
“I was just gonna say we should take her up on that offer of the laundry room,” she said and got a matching grin in response, “I know she’s a great friend. They all are. Now come on, let’s bring the cocoa out. Before they get too rowdy.”  
  
  
They each grabbed a tray and brought them outside, everyone crowding around them instantly as they made a grab for each of the mugs.  
  
  
“Hey, that’s my one!” Buffy yelled when Angel took the red mug, “Give it back or sleep on the couch tonight!”  
  
  
Angel paled even more than he already was, which was quite a feat as the man never seemed to have any colour in his cheeks and quickly handed the mug back, taking another one from the tray.  
  
  
“Women are crazy dude,” Brian whispered from beside him before taking a sip from his own mug, “Damn this is good.”  
  
  
Everyone took their mugs and drank their hot chocolate, chatting amongst themselves until the boys decided they were going to start a game of football with Buffy taking Ira’s place as the older man decided to sit the game out and helped push JJ and Alex on the swings.  
  
  
“Come on ladies,” Jesse called out as he held the ball, “Girls can play too!”  
  
  
“Hell yes we can,” Buffy puffed out, tackling Jesse to the ground despite the fact that the game hadn’t started yet.  
  
  
The rest of the girls laughed but all shook their head as they sat around in the lawn chairs and watched them  
  
  
“I’m on Aunt Becky duty,” Becky called out, Ella sitting on her lap, “Can’t do it.”  
  
  
“And I’m tired from having held the baby all day,” Alice offered with a laugh.  
  
  
“I just don’t understand the game,” Michelle said with a shrug.  
  
  
Willow held up her conjoined hands with Tara.  
  
  
“And we’re not letting go.”  
  
  
Jesse rolled his eyes and pushed Buffy off of him before standing back up.  
  
  
“Alright, guys,” he said, then continued off a glare from Buffy, “And _girl_. We ready? Okay. Hut. Hut. Hut. Hike!”  
  
  
Jesse threw the ball back to Xander, who ran forwards with and threw it back to Jesse, but he was tackled straight to the ground by Buffy again, causing the rest of the girls to cheer.  
  
  
“Yea, you get ‘em, Buffy!” Becky called out before cooing at Ella and bouncing her up and down in her lap, “Yea, your Aunty Buffy is kicking your Daddy’s butt. Yes she is. Yes she is.”  
  
  
Ella looked wide-eyed for a moment before giggling and cuddling her head into Becky’s side.  
  
  
“Aww,” Becky continued, placing a kiss on top of the baby’s hair, “You’re such a cutie.”  
  
  
“Still don’t want any of your own, Beck?” Willow asked as she observed the interaction.  
  
  
Becky scoffed with a laugh.  
  
  
“Not a chance.”  
  
  
She and Brian had made a decision when they established the seriousness of their relationship that they wouldn’t have children. Neither felt a longing to and Becky reasoned that she worked with kids enough as a teacher that it would be her idea of hell to have to come home and deal with them as well.   
  
  
They’d also decided, that while they were quite certain it was each other they intended to spend their lives with, they weren’t going to get married either. That was something that came more from Brian, who had seen his parents – both of them – go through a series of failed marriages and didn’t want to follow in their footsteps.  
  
  
Buffy and Angel had taken a similar route, though not quite as definitive. They were open to the idea of getting married and having children someday if they decided that’s what they wanted, but as they were, they were happy in their relationship and saw no reason to change it.  
  
  
The married couples of the group, being the parents as well, couldn’t talk enough about how wonderful marriage and kids were, but they respected their friends decisions to live their lives and have their relationships as they saw fit – and everyone was happy so that was really all that mattered.  
  
  
“Nope,” Becky continued with a grin, shaking her head, “No marriage, no kids. I’m quite happy to coo and cuddle all over my adorable little niece and my wonderful nephews...and then hand them back.”  
  
  
She handed Ella back over to Alice at that with a grimace.  
  
  
“Diaper situation.”  
  
  
Alice went to take her daughter but Willow was quickly on her feet again, swooping the little girl into her arms.  
  
  
“Come on, little miss, let’s get rid of Mr. Stinky Diaper.”  
  
  
Alice watched as Willow walked her daughter into the house before turning to Tara.  
  
  
“Is she for hire?”  
  
  
Tara laughed.  
  
  
“I kinda need her myself.”  
  
  
“No fair,” Alice replied with a mock-scowl, “You don’t have a baby to take care of.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small smile.  
  
  
 _Not yet._  
  
  
“Uh huh,” she replied with mirth, “Wait until she’s 5 and she won’t stop asking ‘why’ and learns to backchat. You’ll be envious of the baby days.”  
  
  
Alice just laughed as well and patted Tara on the back before being pulled into a conversation with Becky about a sale in their favourite store that was happening the following weekend which reminded Tara of her own pre-emptive weekend plans and she turned to her aunt.  
  
  
“Hey, Michelle, can I ask you something?”  
  
  
Michelle took her gaze away from where she was watching Ira interact with the children and nodded.  
  
  
“Oh course, darling. What’s up?”  
  
  
“Feel free to say no, it’s really fine,” she started, smiling at her aunt, “But could you and Ira take JJ next weekend? Myself and Willow were thinking of going away. You know, just for a short break.”  
  
  
“Oh, well, we’d be delighted,” Michelle replied with a warm smile, “You know how Ira adores your little boy. I do too.”  
  
  
Tara reached over and embraced her aunt.  
  
  
“Thanks, Michelle. We really appreciate it.”  
  
  
Michelle hugged back until an excited voice disturbed them a moment later.  
  
  
“Mommy, Mommy!!”  
  
  
Tara pulled back just in time for her son to jump into her lap, wide-eyed.  
  
  
“Mommy, Grandpa says he can get me a fire fighter costume for Halloween!”  
  
  
Ira followed JJ, slightly red faced from having run around playing with him and Alex.  
  
  
“One of my clients, his son owns a costume store,” Ira explained as Alex sidled up beside him too, “I’m sure I can get the boys whatever they want.”  
  
  
“Oh well that’s wonderful,” Tara replied, ruffling JJ’s hair, before looking at her father-in-law, “Thank you, Ira.”  
  
  
“We can go shopping next weekend,” Michelle suggested, tugging at Ira to sit down next to her, “Willow and Tara are going on a little break so I said we’d be delighted to take JJ for the weekend.”  
  
  
“Oh, of course,” Ira beamed, “Would you like that, Jacob?”  
  
  
JJ looked around from where he’d been pulling faces at Alex behind his mother’s back, confused.  
  
  
“Like what?”  
  
  
“To stay with Grandma and Grandpa next weekend?” Tara asked, “Me and Momma have to go away for a couple of days.”  
  
  
JJ looked contemplative.  
  
  
“Can Alex stay over too?”   
  
  
“Well,” Ira started with a nod, “If his parents say it’s oka–”  
  
  
“Yes!” Anya’s loud voice came from a few feet away from them, where she was cleaning the barbeque, “It’s definitely okay.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and gave JJ a squeeze before he jumped off his mother’s lap and high-fived Alex before running off. Tara turned back to Ira and Michelle.  
  
  
“Thank you. We really appreciate it.”  
  
  
Ira just smiled and gave a wave of his hand.  
  
  
“Our pleasure.”  
  
  
Willow returned with Ella a moment later and handed her back to Alice.  
  
  
“All clean.”  
  
  
“Thanks, Will,” Alice replied, dotting the top of her daughter’s nose with her finger, “She really loves her Aunty Willow.”  
  
  
“Well her Aunty Willow really loves her,” Willow replied in a baby voice, tickling Ella’s stomach again.  
  
  
Tara watched, feeling her heart burst with happiness that Willow would soon be doing the same thing to their own baby but was pulled from her internal musings by a shrill scream from off to the side.  
  
  
“Where?! Where are they!? Get behind me boys, I’ll protect you!”  
  
  
The guys stopped playing their game at Anya’s yelling and ran towards her, Xander’s eyes widening in fright when he saw his wife had picked up the large knife he’d used when he was barbequing and was brandishing it about quite wildly as she kept the two boys behind her protectively.  
  
  
“Ahn, honey, put the knife down.”  
  
  
“Not until the evil creatures are gone!”  
  
  
Everyone was quite bewildered by what the hell was going on and Anya narrowed her eyes as they darted all around her.  
  
  
“JJ said he saw bunnies.”  
  
  
JJ stepped forwards at this and shook his head but Anya pushed him back behind her.  
  
  
“I told you to stay back until it’s safe!”  
  
  
Tara saw her son look at Alex then back up at Anya, petrified and a thought occured to her. She rushed over and bent down to JJ’s level.  
  
  
“Did you try to tell Aunty Anya about your laces?”  
  
  
JJ just nodded, his bottom lip trembling and Tara pulled him into a hug as she looked up at Anya.  
  
  
“Anya, don’t worry, there’s no bunnies,” she said as she rubbed her son’s back soothingly, “It’s just a song about learning to tie your shoes.”  
  
  
Anya looked unconvinced and Tara nodded at her to bend down which she did.  
  
  
“Will you show Anya your song?” Tara asked JJ gently.  
  
  
JJ looked up at his mother and gave a sniffle and a small nod before bending down and pulling his laces free.  
  
  
“See, it’s... Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree. Criss-crossed the tree, trying to catch me,” he recited as he diligently tied his shoes, “Bunny ears, Bunny ears, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side, beautiful and bold. I just learned.”  
  
  
Anya’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as she realised what she’d misinterpreted and she smiled at the boy.  
  
  
“That’s very impressive, JJ.”  
  
  
“Thanks,” JJ shrugged, looking back at Anya, “Can I go play with Alex now?”  
  
  
Anya nodded and JJ ran off while the two women straightened back up and Anya glared at everyone.  
  
  
“What?! I thought there were bunnies! Get back to football!”  
  
  
The men scarpered off, no-one wanting to face the wrath of an embarrassed Anya and the girls quickly got back to their own conversations.  
  
  
“Thanks for trying to protect JJ,” Tara said, patting Anya on the back, “You know, when you thought there was danger.”  
  
  
Anya shrugged diffidently.  
  
  
“Any mother would.”  
  
  
“No,” Tara shook her head, “Only the good kind. And you’re the best.”  
  
  
Anya smiled widely at that and Tara gave her a quick wink before going back to sit beside Willow, retaking her hand and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.   
  
  
“You’re quite amazing,” Willow said as they settled into their seats.  
  
  
Tara smiled.  
  
  
“I’m surrounded by amazingness.”   
  
  
She looked around the yard and felt a sense of pure joy and pride as she took in all the different faces of her family members.   
  
  
And she couldn’t help but think that soon there would be another little face to add to the mix.


	5. Chapter 5

  
********   
  
“JJ, come on, we’re gonna be late!”  
  
  
“I can’t find my red socks!”  
  
  
“Well wear some other ones!”  
  
  
“I want my red ones!”  
  
  
Willow sighed and dropped her head against the banister of the stairs she was standing at the end of until she felt a hand at the end of her back and heard Tara’s voice in her ear.  
  
  
“I’ll sort him out. Go on to work, you’re stressing.”  
  
  
“It’s my day to take him to school,” Willow replied, exhaling and straightening up.  
  
  
They took turns to take him to school each day on the off-chance that it would make them late themselves for work, so that neither would be late _every_ day, though it rarely posed a problem since the school was close to where they both worked and was more just a habit they’d gotten used to.  
  
  
“Well we’ll swap days,” Tara replied a laugh and a roll of her eyes, “I want you nice and chilled this afternoon.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes lit up as her face shot towards her wife.  
  
  
“You made the appointment?”  
  
  
“Just got off the phone. 2pm,” Tara grinned, “You, me and one doctor who can hopefully enlighten us on the ways of baby-making.”  
  
  
Willow squealed and threw her hands around her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“I’ll collect you, okay? I'll take a late lunch.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara smiled in agreement, before a thought occured to her, “Why don't you drop me into work today too? I'll walk JJ home after school.”  
  
  
“Great idea,” Willow smiled and nodded, “Reducing our carbon footprint, even for a day.”  
  
  
She giggled and gave another the blonde another quick kiss before glancing at her watch, her demeanour changing instantly, groaning as she dropped her arms and turned towards the stairs again.  
  
  
“JJ, come on!”  
  
  
JJ appeared at the top of the stairs with a smile on his face.  
  
  
“Found them!”  
  
  
“Thank god,” Willow muttered as the boy bounded down the stairs and sat on the end step, putting his shoes on, “Okay, everyone got their bags and lunches?”  
  
  
Tara held up her purse with a smile and JJ finished tying his laces and pulled his backpack over his shoulders.  
  
  
“Okay, then, Rosenberg-Maclay family,” Willow continued, clapping her hands together, “Go, go, go!”  
  
  
JJ ran out of the house, going straight over to the black Mercedes, the second car that had been bought when JJ started school to facilitate the car journeys.   
  
  
Though it was a family car, Willow had ‘claimed’ it to an extent in that it was always the car she took when she was driving. Tara didn’t care about which car she drove so the system worked perfectly.   
  
  
JJ was confused, however, to see Tara climb into the front seat as he got into the back and sat on his booster seat.  
  
  
“This is Momma’s car.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and looked at her son through the rear-view mirror.   
  
  
“Momma’s driving me today too.”  
  
  
JJ shrugged in acceptance and fastened his seatbelt as Willow jumped in on the driver’s side.  
  
  
“We all ready?”  
  
  
“Ready!” JJ shouted as Willow turned on the engine.  
  
  
“Ready,” Tara smiled and moved to rest her hand over her wife’s on the steering wheel.  
  
  
Willow pulled out of the driveway and started driving towards the school while Tara started applying lipstick in the mirror.  
  
  
“Mommy's gonna walk you home from school today, okay Jakey?” Willow asked as she drove.  
  
  
“Really?” JJ asked excitedly, “Can we stop by the park?”  
  
  
“Yep,” Tara answered, smiling back at her son through the rearview mirror, “You bet.”  
  
  
JJ clapped his hands together as they pulled up outside the school and Tara unfastened her seatbelt and opened the car door. JJ did the same.  
  
  
“Bye Momma!”  
  
  
“Hey,” Willow replied, holding her arms out, “Come here and give me a hug kiddo.”  
  
  
JJ climbed into the front seat and wrapped his arms around his mother. Willow squeezed back tightly.  
  
  
“Love you, JJ.”  
  
  
“Love you too, Momma,” JJ replied before jumping back out of the car and taking Tara’s hand as they walked towards the red-brick school building, “We’re learning more dittion today, Mommy! No...uh... _ad_ dition!  
  
  
“Well good luck,” Tara replied, crouching down as they arrived at the large oak doors, other children and parents streaming past them, “Have a good day, okay? I'll be right here waiting when you’re done.”  
  
  
“Okay,” JJ responded, throwing his arms over Tara’s neck, “Bye Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara kissed the side of her son’s head and watched him run through the doors before straightening up and going back to the car.  
  
  
“Work, driver,” she said jokingly as she fastened her seatbelt again.  
  
  
“Whatever you wish, Mademoiselle,” Willow replied with a laugh as she began driving again.  
  
  
“Madame,” Tara corrected with a smile.  
  
  
Willow’s brow crinkled.  
  
  
“I thought it was Mademoiselle for young women and Madame for older ones?”  
  
  
“Yes, but it’s Madame for married women,” Tara replied, idly playing with her wedding ring, “And I’m very much a married woman.”  
  
  
Willow nodded with a grin as she indicated onto a new street.  
  
  
“Managed to tie someone down, huh?”  
  
  
“Eventually,” Tara replied with an exaggerated sigh, “It took a lot of work and an awful lot of sexual favours but – oh hey, wait no, she proposed to me!”  
  
  
Willow stuck out her tongue and laughed.  
  
  
“We proposed to each other.”  
  
  
“You proposed first,” Tara countered and Willow smiled.  
  
  
“Best thing I ever did,” she replied as she pulled up on the street outside Tara’s work building, “Your chariot will meet you here at 2pm sharp.”  
  
  
“Your lady will be waiting,” Tara replied sweetly and leaned over to kiss the redhead on the cheek.  
  
  
“I better be getting a proper smooch,” Willow responded when Tara pulled away and looked like she was about to exit.  
  
  
Tara grinned and shook her head.  
  
  
“Nah, not in the mood.”  
  
  
Willow chuckled and grabbed two fistfuls of the blonde’s shirt.  
  
  
“I’ll show you not in the mood,” she murmured before crushing their lips together.  
  
  
She felt her wife smile against her lips as they kissed quietly for a few moments before naturally pulling apart.  
  
  
“Is my lipstick smudged?” Tara asked, checking herself in the mirror.  
  
  
Willow frowned and sighed.  
  
  
“It used to be ‘Wow, Willow, you kiss me and my insides melt into a big pile of mush’. Now it’s ‘Is my lipstick smudged?’”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she quickly reapplied her lipstick before turning back to her wife.  
  
  
“It still is, ‘Wow, Willow, you kiss me and my insides melt into a big pile of mush’. But I know I don’t have to say it ‘cause you feel it too.”  
  
  
Tara put a hand over the redhead’s heart through her shirt and Willow smiled back but gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“It’s still nice to hear it.”  
  
  
Tara leant forwards and placed her lips against her wife’s ear.   
  
  
“I love you,” she breathed in a way that sent shivers down the smaller girl’s spine before popping back and opening the door, speaking in a cheery voice, “Bye sweetie!”  
  
  
Willow could only watch as Tara sauntered out of the car and walked, with a noticeable skip in her step, out of the car and into the building. She watched her until she was out of sight completely and dropped her head against the steering wheel.  
  
  
“Damn, I’m lucky.”  
  
  
She exhaled slowly as light shivers continued down her spine until a loud beeping from her left made her jump in her seat. She looked out to see some angry looking man gesturing that he was ‘waiting’ for her spot.  
  
  
“Yea, yea, whatever buddy,” she muttered as she drove off again, “Just jealous you don’t have a smokin’ hot wife who makes you feel all tingly.”  
  
  
She smiled and tapped her fingers against the wheel as she drove the two blocks to the FBI building and parked in the carpark, locking the car and taking the elevator to her floor, whistling as she walked through the department towards her office.  
  
  
“Someone got lucky last night,” Jesse commented as he flicked through a file and leant against a desk.  
  
  
“I get lucky every night,” Willow retorted as she grabbed the file, “This for me?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Jesse nodded, straightening up and following the redhead, motioning for Xander to follow as well, “You know the drill. Receipts, accounts, whatever you can find.”  
  
  
“Not a problem,” Willow replied, dropping her purse on the floor as she entered her office – the ‘robot room’ – and sat in her swivelling chair, before looking up at her two colleagues, “Oh guys, uh, is it cool if I take a late lunch today? Like 2ish? I should have everything on this guy found by then.”  
  
  
Though neither of the men ever held their job status over Willow’s head or made her feel like anything other than a colleague and not a subordinate, they were technically her bosses so she still needed their permission to change her schedule.  
  
  
“No problems here,” Jesse shrugged, “Everything okay?”  
  
  
“Yea, just a doctor’s appointment with Tara,” Willow replied casually before realising what she’d said and looking up. They hadn’t discussed telling people about their impending baby plans but the redhead was certain they weren’t going to until they knew more at the very least, so tried to think of something to say on the spot, “Um, she has to give blood. And she’s like super afraid of needles. I know it’s silly...”  
  
  
Xander just smiled and shook his head.  
  
  
“Hey, after Anya’s bunny freak out on Saturday, I definitely can’t talk about silly phobias.”  
  
  
“Alice is afraid of lava lamps,” Jesse added, eliciting a strange look off the other two, “What, I thought we were sharing?”  
  
  
Willow laughed and snapped the file shut in her hand.  
  
  
“Thanks, guys. I’ll have this stuff for you asap.”  
  
  
Jesse patted Willow on the back and pushed Xander out the door. Willow turned on the computer screens in front of her and pulled the keyboard to her as she opened the file and scanned it to get the details she needed. Her fingers went to work and scanning the servers and systems of the company she was looking into until she’d gathered what she could and sent it all off to her colleagues.   
  
  
She checked her watch and saw it was 1.30 pm so she shut down her computers and grabbed her purse before leaving the small room, saying a quick goodbye to Jesse and Xander before taking the elevator to the bottom floor and leaving the FBI building to go into the coffee shop next door.  
  
  
She ordered a Mocha for herself and a Latte for Tara and took the Styrofoam cups back to the car, putting them in the holders as she drove to her wife’s office building, where Tara was waiting, like she said she would be.  
  
  
“Hello there, gorgeous girl,” Tara greeted as she slid into the passenger seat and leant over for a quick kiss, “Right on time.”  
  
  
“Got you a Latte,” Willow smiled as she quickly drove out of the space again, not wanting to deal with any grumpy business men like she had that morning, “The front one.”  
  
  
Tara picked up the cup.  
  
  
“With–”  
  
  
“An extra double shot of espresso and vanilla syrup,” Willow cut the blonde off with a grin, “I _have_ been ordering your coffee for more than 10 years.”  
  
  
“Just checking,” Tara murmured, sinking down in the seat before taking a long sip, “Mmhh, yummy. How's work?”  
  
  
“Nothing exciting,” Willow replied, taking a quick sip from her Mocha as well, “You?”  
  
  
Tara sighed.  
  
  
“Same. Although that’s a good thing in my line of work.”  
  
  
Willow took Tara’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze before returning it to the wheel.  
  
  
“Hey, I forgot to tell you, I booked the cabin! This Friday to Sunday, a whole little oak wood paradise with just you and me and a big ole’ bed.”  
  
  
“That’s great,” Tara grinned, “I can’t wait.”  
  
  
Willow shot her wife a winning smile across the car before she remembered something.  
  
  
“Oh, by the way, if anyone asks, you have a massive fear of needles.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head towards her wife, one eyebrow quirked.  
  
  
“Why?”  
  
  
“Because,” Willow replied with an exasperated sigh, “I told Jess and Xand that we were going to a doctor’s appointment but we hadn’t discussed the telling of people so I had to make up a reason why I needed a late lunch. And an out-of-office one at that. Not that it's against the rules, but I don't normally take one.”  
  
  
“Oh right,” Tara responded, straightening up in the seat, “Um, I really don’t want to tell people until we’re sure. I mean, really sure. Like ‘you’ve had your three month scan and we’ve been told mom and baby are completely healthy’ sure.”  
  
  
Willow turned the engine off as they parked outside of the doctor’s offices and took her wife’s hand.  
  
  
“Hey, that’s fine. I agree completely.”  
  
  
Tara exhaled with a smile and looked over the redhead’s shoulder.  
  
  
“You ready to go in there?”  
  
  
Willow bit her lip and jumped up and down in her seat slightly.  
  
  
“I know I shouldn’t be getting so excited, we’re only going in today to find stuff out and we’re not even starting thin–”  
  
  
Tara cut the redhead off by bringing her hand up to her mouth and kissing her knuckles.  
  
  
“We’re starting on the whole journey of making our baby. This is it, honey. You can be excited.”  
  
  
Willow took a deep breath before letting out a loud squeal.  
  
  
“We’re making a baby.”  
  
  
“We’re making a baby,” Tara confirmed with a warm smile, leaning over and embracing her wife as best she could within the confines of the car, before pulling back, “Come on, we’re going to be late.”  
  
  
Both women stepped out of the car and clasped hands as they walked into the building and into the right offices, the waiting room filled it women, which was expected seeing as it was an OB/GYN’s office. Lucky for them, their doctor also ran a fertility clinic.  
  
  
“Um, we have an appointment,” Willow said as they went up to the receptionist, “Rosenberg-Maclay.”  
  
  
The brunette woman behind the counter typed something into the computer before smiling at the couple.  
  
  
“Take a seat. Dr. Wells will be right with you.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells had been both girls OB/GYN for almost all the time they’d been in Buffalo, separate from their family doctor, and had figured she was the first port of call for extending their family.   
  
  
They both sat in two of the seats beside each other, their conjoined hands quietly resting on Tara’s lap as they waited until a blonde woman’s head popped out through the door nearest.  
  
  
“Willow, Tara, come in.”  
  
  
The couple stood and walked into the room where the doctor gestured for them to sit opposite her desk, which they did.  
  
  
“How’s JJ?”  
  
  
“He’s good,” Willow replied as she settled in her seat, her hand still firmly encased in Tara’s, “You know, normal 5 year old.”  
  
  
“Good. So, I don’t normally see you two together in here,” Dr. Wells said with a joking smile before looking down pointedly, “Is there an...issue? People don’t realise that infections can be passed very easily between women–”  
  
  
“Whoa, no,” Willow cut the doctor off with a vigorous shaking of her head, “That’s not why we’re here!”  
  
  
Dr. Wells held a hand up.  
  
  
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to offend. I’m just used to seeing you as separate patients. How can I be of service to you today?”  
  
  
Willow bit her lip again, obviously excited.  
  
  
“We wanna have a baby.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled warmly.  
  
  
“That’s wonderful. I presume since you’ve come to me you’re not looking at the adoption route this time?”  
  
  
“That’s right,” Tara answered, squeezing the redhead’s hand, “We want to get Willow pregnant.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded and leant forwards in her seat curiously.  
  
  
“Can I ask why you decided which one of you...?”  
  
  
Willow looked to Tara, then back at the doctor.  
  
  
“I want to carry our baby,” she answered simply and Tara nodded in agreement.  
  
  
“I just want to add to our family, I don’t have an... ’aching womb’,” she added with a grin at her wife who had used that term.  
  
  
“And, uh, I kinda do,” Willow continued with a shy laugh, “I really want to experience being pregnant.”  
  
  
“Well, okay,” Dr. Wells replied with an easy smile, “So if you’re looking to be inseminated–”  
  
  
“Oh, oh!” Willow cut the doctor off, “Um, we decided we want to use Tara’s eggs. I, you know... I wanna carry her baby.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded her understanding.  
  
  
“So you’re looking at IVF. Well that makes things a little more complicated. But definitely manageable. Tara, you’ll have to go through hormone therapy. Basically we need to stimulate your ovaries so that they produce more than your normal one-egg-a-month. I won’t lie, it’s intensive – emotionally and physically. It’s a series of pills and injections that you’ll have to take daily. You’ll also have to come here for regular check-ups to make sure your ovaries are responding to the treatment okay.”  
  
  
“Sure,” Tara nodded, “I’ll do whatever I need to.”   
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled and continued.  
  
  
“Good. Well once I’ve determined that your eggs are mature enough, I’ll retrieve them from your uterus. You’ll be given anaesthesia so you’re out for the procedure, but a needle is passed through the top of your vagina and we use ultrasound guidance to get to the ovary and then basically we suck the eggs out. You’ll be here for about 3 hours overall.”  
  
  
“Right,” Tara replied with a nervous chuckle, “And, um, I’ll be unconscious for that, right?”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded and Tara visibly exhaled.  
  
  
“Can I be unconscious for the labour, too?” Willow asked, more to make her wife laugh, which she succeeded in doing.  
  
  
“I’m afraid not, Willow,” Dr. Wells laughed too, “But that is where your part comes in. Well, almost. We mix the eggs with the sperm – oh, I didn’t ask, do you have a donor? Or are you looking to do it anonymously?”  
  
  
“Anonymously.”  
  
  
Both Willow and Tara said the word at the same time and smiled at each other.  
  
  
“Just...” Willow continued, squeezing the blonde’s hand, “Our baby, you know?”  
  
  
“Of course,” the doctor smiled, “Well we have a sperm bank that we work in tandem which you can utilise if you’d like.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Willow replied with a smile, “I didn’t know that. Um, yea, I think...I mean, baby, what do you think?”  
  
  
“Definitely,” Tara smiled back, “If you’re okay?”  
  
  
Willow nodded and they turned back to the doctor.  
  
  
“We also have a matching service,” Dr. Wells continued, “It’s normally used to match infertile men with the closest possible match but I can, of course, just input Willow’s details in this case and find what her closest male counterpart might be. Or you can read through the profiles yourselves. You don’t have to decide that now, though, there’s time.”  
  
  
Both girls nodded and the doctor continued.  
  
  
“So back to what I was saying, once we’ve retrieved the eggs, we monitor them and inject the sperm. Then we watch for fertilization and monitor them for a few more days before we implant them in your uterus, Willow. It’s Mother Nature from then on really, we’ll know after 14 days whether the implantation was successful.”  
  
  
“That’s it?” Willow asked, a beaming smile on her face.  
  
  
Dr. Wells laughed.  
  
  
“Well it’s certainly quite the process, but yes, that’s it.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes and took a deep breath, making Tara smile widely.  
  
  
“When can we start?”  
  
  
Dr. Wells turned towards her computer.  
  
  
“Okay, what days are you on in your menstrual cycle? I have a calendar here you can use.”  
  
  
She handed a calendar over the desk and Willow stared at it for a few moments.  
  
  
“Okay, finished not yesterday but the Sunday before that and started the Wednesday before that.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded as she typed on the keyboard and then turned to Tara.  
  
  
“And you?”  
  
  
“Oh, the same,” Tara replied, handing the calendar back.  
  
  
Dr. Wells raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
“The exact same days?”  
  
  
Tara just nodded.  
  
  
“Has that always been the case?” the doctor asked curiously, “I personally always thought the ‘women having their period together’ without medically making it that way was a bit of a myth.”  
  
  
“Um, since college?” Willow replied, looking to Tara for confirmation, who nodded, “Yea, since we moved in with each other in college. I thought it was really annoying the first few months ‘cause we were both moody at the same time but then I realised it was actually good ‘cause we didn’t have to deal with going without sex two times a month. Not that that became an issue after a while ‘cause now we just have sex any–”  
  
  
Willow was cut off as Tara clamped a hand over her mouth and shook her head at the smaller girl. Willow blushed and apologised with her eyes so Tara lowered her hand and conjoined it with her wife’s again. The doctor, kindly, pretended to have only heard the answer to the question she had asked.  
  
  
“It’s definitely an interesting phenomenon,” she said before looking away from the screen and back at the couple, “It also makes things easier for us. If your cycles are synched, we can forgo any oestrogen treatment to synch them and just start with the others. Which means, Tara, we can start you on your hormone treatments next Tuesday.”  
  
  
“Tuesday?” Tara asked, “That’s...quick.”  
  
  
“Is that too soon, baby?” Willow asked gently, “We can wait a month or two if you want.”  
  
  
“Are you kidding?” Tara replied with a beaming smile, “The quicker we have our little bundle in our arms the better. Tuesday is great.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells leant forwards in her seat.  
  
  
“You should know, it normally takes an average of three attempts before a pregnancy is successful. Now your chances do increase as you’re not looking to do this for infertility reasons but it’s important you know that even if things don’t work first time round, we can try again. Okay?”  
  
  
Willow looked saddened but felt Tara squeeze her hand and realised she was jumping the gun way too much and getting upset over something that might not happen.  
  
  
“Okay. We’ll be prepared,” she responded.  
  
  
“Excellent,” Dr. Wells replied, typing at the computer again, “Well you both had full work-ups done recently when you came in for check-ups so we know you’re all healthy. Would you like me to talk you through the hormone treatment process?”  
  
  
Both girls nodded so the doctor continued.  
  
  
“Okay, so you’ll start off with daily injections of a drug called Lupron. It’s a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist,” she explained and gave an apologetic smile at the lost look on the other two women, “I’m sorry. I’ve been hanging around too many doctors and not enough patients. Let me start again. Tara, you’ll need to take a daily injection, that either yourself or Willow can administer, called Lupron, which prevents premature ovulation. You’ll need to take that for 8 days before we add another injection with something called FSH or Follicle-Stimulating Hormone, which basically makes your eggs develop. We’ll monitor the growth and development of your eggs – which means you’ll have to come in here for blood tests and ultrasounds I’m afraid, between 3 and 5 times and then I’ll determine the best time for ovulation, typically another 8 days after you’ve started the FSH treatment. Then I’ll administer a shot of something called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, or HCG, which will trigger ovulation. Two days after that the retrieval can take place and your bit will be over.”  
  
  
“That’s...a lot of information,” Willow replied with a nervous chuckle.  
  
  
“I’ve overwhelmed you,” Dr. Wells said, apologetically, typing something on the computer, “I’m sorry. Here, I can print you off a small calendar which shows you what needs to happen then for this first stage. Obviously it’s slightly variable, depending on the egg monitoring, but this is basically the plan you’ll be following.”  
  
  
The sound of a printer whirred behind them and the doctor handed over a piece of paper across the desk a moment later.  
  
  
“See, honey, nothing too hectic,” Tara said calmly as they both looked at the sample calendar, “I just take the Lupron for about a week, then the Lupron and the FSH together for about a week and get blood tests and ultrasounds during that week, then I get like a booster shot and then we can take my eggs. Then a couple of days later we can put them in you.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled as she saw Willow listen to Tara’s words and nod in understanding.  
  
  
“Okay. We can do that. We can do that, right?”  
  
  
“Me and you?” Tara asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her wife’s ear, “We can do anything.”  
  
  
Willow smiled shyly before looking towards the doctor.  
  
  
“I know it’s unlikely and we have to be prepared to go through this a few times and everything but in theory...I could be pregnant by this time next month?”  
  
  
“It’s possible,” Dr. Wells nodded, “And there’s things you can do to help things along. Plenty of relaxation – both of you. It’s important that you’re both good to yourselves. I’d say be good to each other but I know you already are. But take it easy. Small amounts of alcohol shouldn’t adversely affect you in any way but avoid caffeine if you can.”  
  
  
Willow sighed but nodded.  
  
  
“No more mocha’s,” she said before giving Tara a stern look, “And definitely no more of your latte’s with your extra double shot. That’s 3 espresso shots, Tara! Do you know how much caffeine that is?!”  
  
  
“Willow...” Dr. Wells called out, trying to hold back a laugh, “I said relax, remember.”  
  
  
Willow looked sheepish for a moment.  
  
  
“Right,” she replied before turning to Tara, “Sorry.”  
  
  
“It’s okay,” Tara responded, unable to hold back her own grin, “No more lattes.”  
  
  
“We’ll start you on some prenatal vitamins, Willow,” Dr. Wells continued after a second, “Both of you, drink plenty of water and avoid lots of high-salt foods. And, now this is very important, know that I am here every step of the way in this, so if you have any questions, no matter how big or small, just call the clinic. If I’m with a patient, I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Is that all okay?”  
  
  
The couple nodded.  
  
  
“We can manage all of that,” Tara replied, internally processing everything.  
  
  
The doctor began typing again at the computer.  
  
  
“Wonderful. Tara, if you call into our nurse here at the clinic next Monday, we can get the medications all ready for you and make your first appointment for your bloods and ultrasound the week after. Our nurse will go through all the protocols with you for the treatments. Willow, if you’re going to be administrating the injections, you should come too.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow nodded vigorously, “Together. We’ll do everything, together.”  
  
  
The doctor pulled something else from the printer and handed to the redhead.  
  
  
“These are the prenatal vitamins I want you to take. Start taking those straight away, there’s a pharmacy right next door you can use. Other than that, like I said, plenty of relaxation and no stress. I know having a 5 year old might make that hard...”  
  
  
The couple both laughed.  
  
  
“Yea, he’s a handful,” Tara smiled, “But we wouldn’t change him for anything.”  
  
  
“And we’re going away this weekend, just the two of us,” Willow added, “We, uh, didn’t realise we would be able to start things to quickly so that kind of timed out well.”  
  
  
“That’s really good,” the doctor replied, “Going through the IVF procedure can be very emotionally and physically draining. It’s important that you’re both there for each other. Doctors orders, plenty of kissing and cuddling!”  
  
  
Both girls blushed but gave small laughs.  
  
  
“We can definitely manage that,” Willow replied, casting a momentary adoring look at her wife before holding up the prescription sheet in her hands, “Thank you for this. For everything.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells just smiled.  
  
  
“I’ve never been more happy to help a couple extend their family. Have a think between now and next week about whether you want to use our sperm matching service or choose yourselves, our nurse can give you the catalogues if you choose that, otherwise she can let me know and I’ll start the matching procedure,” she replied before looking at the two seriously, “If at any stage during all of this you want to stop or delay things, we can do that. I’m of the school that getting things done quickly is optimum. Obviously that’s a good thing when I’m chasing up test results, but for something like this, it’s of the utmost importance that as much time as you need is taken. We’re not dealing with a yeast infection here, it’s a human life.”  
  
  
“We know,” Tara answered without missing a beat, “A human life we want to bring into this world and meet as soon as we can.”  
  
  
“I wanna be pregnant like, yesterday,” Willow added with a laugh, “We’re ready. We want this. And we’re more than happy to push it through quickly. Especially if it might take a few cycles.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells leant back in her seat, convinced.  
  
  
“Well okay then. I think that’s all we can organise for today. Do either of you have any questions?”  
  
  
Willow looked to Tara for a moment before back at the doctor.  
  
  
“The hormone treatment and the egg retrieval and stuff...is it gonna hurt her?”  
  
  
“There can be some pain and discomfort associated with–”  
  
  
The doctor was cut off as Willow inhaled sharply and Tara quickly turned to face her wife.  
  
  
“Sweetheart, it’s fine.”  
  
  
“But I don’t want you in pain,” Willow replied with almost childlike pleading, “I...I wanna use your eggs so badly but I can’t stand to see you in any pain.”  
  
  
“Willow...” Tara responded, tucking a piece of hair behind the smaller girl’s ear, “Hold my hand and I won’t feel anything else.”  
  
  
“There should be no intense pain at all,” Dr. Wells added when she saw Willow was getting slightly distressed, “The needles obviously have a small sting and there can be aches similar to period cramping while your eggs mature. The worst side effect from the retrieval is generally reaction from the anaesthesia, haziness and nausea. Nothing some rest, a cuddle and a hot water bottle won’t make feel better.”  
  
  
“And nothing compared to labour,” Tara joked, getting a smile from the redhead in response, “Willow, all I care about is us making our baby. The rest is just...”  
  
  
“Procedure?” the doctor suggested and Tara nodded with a smile.  
  
  
“Exactly. We had to do paperwork with JJ and we have to do bodywork for this little one. That’s all.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes and nodded before cracking a smile.  
  
  
“Thank god it’s not more paperwork. We have enough of that at work.”  
  
  
Tara giggled and leant forwards to place a warm kiss against her wife’s forehead. Willow turned back to the doctor with a sheepish shrug.  
  
  
“Sorry. Obligatory freak-out.”  
  
  
“It’s good to get any issues out early,” Dr. Wells commented, “It’s worse if they come out too late when there’s nothing we can do about them or let them fester and cause undue stress. Now, Tara, I just need to take some baseline bloods today so I know where everything is at and where it should be for when you start your medications. Could you roll up your sleeve for me?”  
  
  
Tara obliged and Dr. Wells retrieved a needle and some vials to collect the blood before drawing Tara’s blood quickly and covering the pierced skin with a band-aid before smiling at the couple.  
  
  
“That’s it. Are you both okay with what we’ve discussed today?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow nodded and got an answering smile from Tara, “Okay, um, so I guess that’s it. I...uh, we can’t thank you enough, doctor.”  
  
  
“My pleasure,” Dr. Wells replied, standing as the couple did as well, “I’ll see you both soon. And take it easy, remember.”  
  
  
“We will,” Tara promised with a wave as they walked out of the door, “Bye.”  
  
  
The couple waved at the receptionist as they left the clinic and walked back out of the car. Willow stared out of the front window in disbelief as she sat in the driver’s seat, before turning to her wife, a massively wide smile on her face.  
  
  
“I can’t...I can’t believe it. I thought we’d go in there today and just get information but now we have plans and dates and appointments. We’re gonna have a baby, Tara. We really are.”  
  
  
Tara could only smile back.  
  
  
“We really are.”


	6. Chapter 6

  
  
  
“It’s this one just up here,” Willow said as they walked hand-in-hand along a weather-beaten track to the cabin they’d rented for the weekend, “Number 7.”  
  
  
Willow had collected JJ from school and dropped him straight over to his grandparents before going back home to pack a bag for herself and Tara, then collecting the blonde straight from work and driving the hour and a half it took to get to the cabins, the day turning into night as they drove, stopping only to grab a quick bite at a restaurant on the way.   
  
  
Both women had had hectic weeks at work, mostly because they’d both been trying to get as much work done as possible before they started the treatments and procedures to get Willow pregnant.  
  
  
Tara saw a log cabin come into view and smiled.   
  
  
“It looks beautiful. The grounds are beautiful, too. We should take a proper walk around in the daylight tomorrow.”  
  
  
“Hmm, we’ll have to see about that,” Willow replied with a grin, “I didn’t plan on letting you get dressed until 5 minutes before we have to check out.”  
  
  
Tara grinned back as they arrived outside the cabin before suddenly pushing her wife against the door, kissing her hard, making the redhead drop the small overnight bag she’d been carrying.   
  
  
There wasn’t much in the bag, since, like Willow said, they didn’t plan on needing many clothes. Willow reached into her pocket to retrieve the key they’d been given for the cabin and tried to reach behind to open the door but couldn’t.  
  
  
Tara felt the fumbling happening and quickly clasped the keys out of her wife’s hands, slotting the key in the door and turning it, the pressure of both of their bodies against making it fly open straight away.   
  
  
They both tumbled in through a series of kisses and giggles until they caught sight of the objects in the middle and roomed and stared, stunned.  
  
  
“God, Will, you could’ve just said you had a headache,” Tara said, folding her arms over her chest as she saw the two single beds made up and not the big double bed she’d been expecting.  
  
  
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Willow snapped in response as she stormed over and looked between the two beds in shock, “What the fuck!?”  
  
  
“Okay, Will, chill,” Tara replied, dropping her arms, “They clearly just gave us the wrong room. Come on, we’ll go back and get it sorted and then get back to that keeping my clothes off for the next two days, okay?”  
  
  
Willow dropped her head into her hands and groaned loudly before bounding back over to the door and taking both the bag and Tara’s hand roughly, slamming the door shut and pulling her wife back in the direction they’d just come.  
  
  
“Sweetheart, calm down,” Tara said as she was dragged down the dirt road and stopped completely when the redhead just continued to pull her, “Willow!”  
  
  
“What?!” Willow asked harshly, spinning around and paling when she saw Tara just quirk an eyebrow. She closed her eyes, “I just wanted to have a nice weekend.”  
  
  
“Willow, we’re still going to do that,” Tara cut the redhead off, moving her hands up and rubbing her wife’s shoulders, “We’ll be in a new cabin in less than 10 minutes. Okay?”  
  
  
Willow exhaled slowly.  
  
  
“Yea. Okay. C’mere.”  
  
  
Willow crossed her arms over the blonde’s neck as their lips met sweetly and Tara shuffled their bodies together, holding the redhead in place by her hips. It only took a few moments before her hands began to slip lower and she pulled back just as her fingers hit the waistband of her wife’s panties.  
  
  
“We better hurry before we end up doing it right here on the ground.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“Forest sex could be hot.”  
  
  
Tara grinned back.  
  
  
“But there’s no walls to shake.”  
  
  
“Very good point,” Willow agreed, grabbing her wife’s hand, “Come on.”  
  
  
They both calmly but quickly walked on the path, past some of the other cabins until they arrived back at the one used as reception.   
  
  
There were other couples checking in but the woman – in her fifties with shoulder-length black hair and glasses hanging off a chair – Willow and Tara had checked in with was free so they walked back up to her.   
  
  
She looked up with a slightly confused but warm smile.  
  
  
“Hello again. Is everything alright with your cabin?”  
  
  
“Actually there’s a slight problem,” Willow replied, but with an agitated but nonetheless there smile as well, “We were given a twin cabin...as in one with two single beds.”  
  
  
“Oh I’m sorry,” the women replied, typing something on the computer beside her, “Did you require two double beds?”  
  
  
Willow’s brow crinkled.  
  
  
“No...no we require _one_ bed. One _queen_ -sized bed. Like I specified in my _booking_.”  
  
  
The older woman frowned in a mixture of confusion and obliviousness.  
  
  
“The system booked a twin single. I can offer you a cabin with the doubles instead of the singles though it will cost an additional fee.”  
  
  
The woman smiled in what was meant to be a helpful smile. Willow just blinked a few times and shook her head.  
  
  
“No, one bed will be fine,” she replied, trying not to grit her teeth.  
  
  
The woman kept her now somewhat-forced smile on her face.  
  
  
“Surely you’d be more comfortable with a bed each.”  
  
  
Willow started to see red and brought their conjoined hands up, slamming them against the counter.  
  
  
“We’ve been perfectly comfortable in the one bed we’ve shared for the last 10 years.”  
  
  
Tara internally groaned as her wife’s raised voice and the slamming had attracted stares from everyone else in the place. It also caused a man, with a nametag that said ‘Anthony’ with ‘Manager’ written underneath it to rush over.  
  
  
“Is there a problem here?” he asked politely.  
  
  
“No problem,” Tara said quickly, tugging their hands down and giving the redhead’s hand a squeeze in warning, “We were just given a twin cabin when we booked a double one.”  
  
  
The man gave a small smile and moved the other woman out of the way so he could type on the computer.  
  
  
“Ah, I see the problem. The system automatically gives two beds when the names on the booking are of the same sex. Quite the archaic system, we’ve been meaning to get it updated,” he said to the couple with a charming smile, “My deepest apologies on this. I’d like to offer you an upgrade to our Lover’s Suite cabin at no extra charge to you, of course, to apologise for this stuff-up.”  
  
  
“Does that have just one bed?” Willow asked sarcastically under her breath and Tara nudged her with her elbow.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara said to the manager, “That would be greatly appreciated.”  
  
  
Anthony quickly typed something on the computer before reaching behind him and retrieving a set of keys that had a heart as a key chain.  
  
  
“Our Lover’s Suite is located behind this one. If you turn right when you leave and walk for about three minutes you’ll find it. It’s the only one in this vicinity so you’ll be quite secluded. Should you require any assistance, I will be here all weekend. Please feel free to enjoy the grounds and enjoy your stay.”  
  
  
Tara smiled at the man and accepted the set of keys before pulling Willow out of the reception and following the instructions they’d been given to their new cabin.   
  
  
They both walked quickly and in silence until they reached their cabin and Tara opened the door, revealing a much larger room than had been the one previous, a large king-sized bed in the middle of the room with rose petals sprinkled over it and a small table with a bottle of red wine and a box of heart shaped chocolates sitting on it.  
  
  
“At least this one really does have just one bed,” Willow mumbled, flicking the lights on and dropping the bag from her shoulder, then going over to the bed, sitting on it, before noticing the less-than-pleased look on her wife’s face, “What?”  
  
  
Tara kicked the door shut, the loud bang making the redhead jump in place.  
  
  
 _Shit. She’s angry._  
  
  
“Did you really have to embarrass me like that?” Tara asked, her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
  
“Embarrass you?” Willow asked in disbelief, “I defended you! I defended us! From that stupid, ignorant woman who clearly never left her small-time home town much less meet a gay couple! Did you see the look of disgust she gave us when she saw our hands?!”   
  
  
Tara just shook her head.  
  
  
“You didn’t need to yell and slam things.”  
  
  
Willow scoffed.  
  
  
“Says the girl who just slammed the door shut.”  
  
  
Tara scowled and set her jaw while Willow’s eyes just narrowed.  
  
  
“Why are you so mad about this? So, I told them we were a couple. What, are you ashamed of us?!”  
  
  
Tara’s hands dropped and her fists balled at her sides.  
  
  
“Yes, Willow. I’m ashamed of us. I’m so damn ashamed of us. That’s why I married you. That’s why I had a child with you. That’s why I want you to carry my baby!”  
  
  
Tara stormed over and into bathroom as she spoke and slammed the door shut. Willow stared after her in disbelief before falling back against the bed and screaming into the pillows, her legs kicking against the mattress in frustration before she puffed out her cheeks in anger.  
  
  
“The perfect fucking start to the perfect fucking weekend.”  
  
  
She jumped up after a moment and stomped over to where the wine was, screwing the top off and pouring a tall glass. She was just about to bring it to her lips when she looked towards the bathroom and shook her head, putting the glass back on the table and walking over to the shut door.   
  
  
She tried to turn the knob but found it was locked so she placed her palm against the wood.  
  
  
“Tara?” she called out gently, but got no response, “Baby?”  
  
  
There was still no response she pressed her ear against the door and heard quiet sniffles from the other side.  
  
  
“Please don’t cry,” she said in sad tone, trying in vain to push against the door to see if it would open, “Not over me. I’m not worth it.”  
  
  
There was a silence for a moment before Willow heard a quiet, low voice from the other side of the door.  
  
  
“Of course you’re worth it.”  
  
  
Willow guessed from the sound of Tara’s voice that she was sitting right against the door on the other side, so she sank into a sitting position as well.  
  
  
“Not when I’m being a big ole’ dummy. I’m sorry I embarrassed you, Tara. I didn’t mean to. You know me; I’m all about the reacting and not the thinking beforehand. She just made me so mad. All I wanted was to spend some quality time with my wife and it was like she was doing all she could to stop that.”  
  
  
There was no response to that and Willow noticed there was a small crack between the end of the door and the floor. It wasn’t big but she figured it would be enough to slip her four fingers through, which she did and gave a small smile when she felt Tara begin to stroke them lightly.  
  
  
“It’s just,” Willow continued, taking that as a good sign, “We haven’t had any alone time all week ‘cause JJ’s been hyper and work has been crazy and I’ve been all obsessed with looking up IVF online and not coming to bed on time – which is totally my fault, I know. I just wanted to know everything so I wouldn’t mess it up. For us. For you.”  
  
  
She rested her head against the door and sighed as an outpour of emotion she’d been keeping inside all week started to pour out.  
  
  
“‘Cause what if you go through everything... The shots and the bloods and the ultrasounds and everything... And I can’t do it? What if I’m one of those women who can’t get pregnant? I know the doctor says I’m A-Okay in terms of like...reproductive health...but sometimes there’s nothing physically wrong and women still can’t get pregnant. And I want your baby so badly, Tara. So badly. So, if I know everything there is to know, I can’t mess up, right? But it turns out I’m messing up anyway ‘cause I’m so frustrated from not being with you, even though it was completely self-imposed, that I’m snapping at you and random ignorant hotel workers in a big vicious cycle of–”  
  
  
She cut herself off as Tara stopped playing with her fingers and closed her eyes to stop the tears that threatened to fall when she felt the door open unexpectedly and jumped up, seeing Tara staring at her, a look of nothing but love and concern shining in her features.  
  
  
“Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling like this?”  
  
  
Willow bit the skin around her thumb and shrugged.  
  
  
“We’ve been through this. I’m a big ole’ dummy.”  
  
  
“Oh Willow,” Tara replied, pulling the redhead to her and holding her head against her chest, “I’m sorry. I should have noticed. I just thought you were being your normal research-y self.”  
  
  
“I was,” Willow mumbled, holding onto the blonde tightly, “But then I started reading all these stories about people who go through like, 5 or 10 or 20 cycles and spend money they don’t have and they still can’t get pregnant. There’s so many sad stories out there, I just...I got consumed.”  
  
  
Tara inhaled the scent of her wife’s hair and placed a warm kiss on the top of her head before pulling back and holding the redhead by the shoulders, a half-smile on her face.  
  
  
“I’m banning the internet.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small chuckle and wiped the last of the errant tears that had gathered in her eyes.  
  
  
“That’s not a bad idea,” she replied and saw the blonde raise an eyebrow, “I’m serious. Obviously I need to use it in work but it’s causing me nothing but worry at the moment at home. From now until whenever you see fit, I officially give you control of my laptop to hide or lock away wherever you want.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyebrow stayed raised.  
  
  
“Willow, for as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been an internet hound.”  
  
  
Willow just shrugged again.  
  
  
“Well it’s much more important that I’m a wife and a mother.”  
  
  
Tara could only smile.  
  
  
“Well, okay. No more laptops at home. For the next little while anyway. And sweetheart,” she replied, sighing for a moment as she brought her hands up to massage her wife’s neck, “We have enough savings to try 4 cycles of the IVF. If we’re still not pregnant after then, well then we’ll try just the insemination. And...and if there’s still a problem after that, we can look into adoption again. We’ll get a baby, Willow. Someway, somehow, we will get a baby. And that baby will be ours. Completely. No matter how he or she makes their way into the world.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes and nodded as she exhaled.  
  
  
“Sometime you just need a bit of wifey reassurance, right?”  
  
  
“Sometimes you just need to ask,” Tara replied softly and the smaller girl looked up into her eyes.  
  
  
“You’d think after 10 years I’d wouldn’t need to still be learning things about being in a relationship.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“Not learning. Just reminding.”  
  
  
Willow wrapped her arms around her wife’s neck and rested her head on her shoulder.  
  
  
“I love you.”  
  
  
“I love you, too,” Tara whispered, holding the redhead tightly by the waist, “The rest of the weekend is just about you and me, okay? No baby talk, no kiddie talk, no house talk, no work talk. We are just two people in love with no worries and no responsibilities.”  
  
  
Willow nodded against the blonde’s shoulder.  
  
  
“I’m in.”  
  
  
They both swayed quietly for a moment until Tara noticed the glass on the table.  
  
  
“You opened the wine?”  
  
  
Willow pulled away from the hug and looked over her shoulder.  
  
  
“Yea. The doctor said a little bit would be okay, right? Will I pour you a glass?”  
  
  
Tara nodded with a smile and Willow walked over to the table, pouring wine into the other glass that was left there. She picked them both up, casting a glance outside the window in the process and noticing something.  
  
  
“Hey, baby, there’s a porch swing out there.”  
  
  
“There is?” Tara asked, walking over and standing behind her wife, taking one of the glasses and looking out the window, “So there is. I didn’t see that on the way in.”  
  
  
“We were both kinda distracted,” Willow answered before taking the blonde’s hand, “Come on, let’s have a swing.”  
  
  
She led them out of the cabin and over to the swing, pushing off lightly with her feet so it began to sway before swinging her legs onto it and cuddling into the blonde’s side.  
  
  
“This is really nice,” Willow said, resting her head against her wife’s chest, “Sorry, again. You know, about before.”  
  
  
“Shush, it’s forgotten,” Tara whispered in response, running a hand down the redhead’s arm, “And hey, it got us this suite and this porch swing. All’s well that ends well, right?”  
  
  
Willow gave a small laugh before they lapsed into a comfortable silence, sipping their wine amiably. They stayed liked that for several minutes, just enjoying being with each other without a screaming 5 year old trying to get their attention or looming thoughts of work deadlines or in Willow’s case, worries about her own abilities until the redhead pointed upwards with hers and Tara’s conjoined hands.  
  
  
“Check out the moon. It’s huge tonight.”  
  
  
Tara smiled.  
  
  
“Remember when we were in college, after you moved in with me? My window was in just the right position to stream the moonlight in every time there was a full moon and you always made me leave the curtains open.”  
  
  
“Even though you hated it,” Willow giggled.  
  
  
“The light always woke me way earlier than I wanted,” Tara laughed in response, “But anything for you. It was also the only time you ever wanted to make love with the lights off.”  
  
  
Willow rubbed her thumb over the blonde’s skin.  
  
  
“Not off. Just different. You look...so beautiful in the moonlight,” she replied, turning her head and placing a kiss against her wife’s neck, before pulling at the top of her sweater so her shoulder was exposed and trailing kisses down the skin there, “Especially...when it would catch...against your hair...and make it shine like you were an angel...or when I would watch your back arch and your breasts...oh your breasts...”  
  
  
Tara gasped as the redhead’s lips began sucking on a particularly sensitive spot behind her ear and looked towards the cabin.  
  
  
“I think...I think that window’s at a pretty good angle too...”  
  
  
Willow quickly glanced over her shoulder at the window and grinned. She quietly took the two now-almost-empty wine glasses and placed them on the ground before standing up and taking Tara’s hand, pulling her upwards.  
  
  
“Yea...it does.”  
  
  
Their lips locked and Willow started walking them backwards and through the door. She reached out to flick off the lights and kicked her shoes off, feeling Tara do the same as they went towards the bed, falling back onto it in a mess of tangled limbs.  
  
  
“I love you,” Tara breathed against the redhead’s lips before trailing kisses down her cheek and onto her neck.  
  
  
“Oh god,” Willow moaned in response, holding one hand to keep the blonde in place, before lowering her voice to a whisper, “I’ll love you more than you’ll ever know.”  
  
  
Tara placed wet kisses across her wife’s neck and over her throat, feeling her larynx protrude against her lips. Willow let out another moan as the taller girl’s hands slipped under her shirt and moved up her sides at an agonisingly slow rate before speaking softly.  
  
  
“Can I undress you?”  
  
  
Tara paused for just a second before moving her lips back up to cover her wife’s, kissing her soundly for a few moments before sitting back on her heels, straddling the redhead.  
  
  
“Of course.”  
  
  
Willow pulled the end of the blonde’s shirt from her pants and let her hands hold onto Tara’s waist, just above her hips, under her shirt. She lightly tapped her fingers against the small of her wife’s back and gazed up at her, an adoring smile on her face.  
  
  
“An angel,” she repeated from earlier as she took in the moonlit-glow surrounding Tara’s head, “My angel.”  
  
  
Tara just smiled back down and they stayed in an eye-lock for several long moments until the redhead’s nimble fingers started slowly unbuttoning the blonde’s shirt.  
  
  
“Willow, just rip it off,” Tara said with a small grin when the redhead had only undone 3 buttons after several minutes.  
  
  
“No way,” Willow replied, adjusting herself into a sitting position so her head was level with the taller girl’s still-covered stomach, “You...are like a perfectly wrapped present. A present that deserves to be unwrapped nice and slowly. Savoured.”  
  
  
Tara exhaled slowly.  
  
  
“Even if it drives me insane?”  
  
  
Willow looked up from her position to meet the blonde’s gaze.  
  
  
“Especially if it drives you insane.”  
  
  
Tara just sighed softly and started stroking her wife’s hair as Willow pulled the opened sides of her shirt apart and started kissing her stomach.   
  
  
The rest of the buttons were slowly undone and the redhead gripped the fabric at the back, pulling it off with one swift tug, the garment gathering on the ground, completely forgotten.   
  
  
Willow’s lips moved upwards, trailing up over the outline of the blonde’s bra, along the upper swell of her breasts and down into cleavage. She nuzzled there for a moment as her hands reached around to unsnap the hook, her fingers pulling the straps down with the lightest of pressure before she pulled that off as well and let it join the shirt.  
  
  
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”  
  
  
Tara smiled downwards.  
  
  
“I think you got me beat.”  
  
  
Willow just shook her head wordlessly and brought her hands up to her lover’s breasts, squeezing the flesh between her fingers as the blonde’s nipples rubbed against her palms. Tara’s breath quickened and the redhead could feel her heartbeat speed up from her hand’s position on her wife’s left breast.  
  
  
“I love how that feels,” she whispered, not even realising the words had left her mouth.  
  
  
Tara chuckled.  
  
  
“My breasts?”  
  
  
Willow looked up again and smiled.  
  
  
“No. Well, yes. But I meant your heartbeat. So strong. So alive.”  
  
  
Tara traced a finger down the bridge of her wife’s nose.  
  
  
“It only beats for you.”  
  
  
Willow kissed the pad of the blonde’s finger as it moved along her lips.  
  
  
“Forever?”  
  
  
Tara moved her hand down and clasped the redhead’s.  
  
  
“And always.”  
  
  
Willow choked back the swell of emotion that started to rise in her throat and moved her head forwards to kiss her wife’s stomach again. Her hand dropped Tara’s, but only to pull at the button on her pants and drag the zipper down until the fabric loosened enough that the garment felt to the blonde’s knees.  
  
  
Willow raised each of the taller girl’s knees and slipped the fabric under them, pulling each leg of the pants off individually and taking Tara’s socks on the way so she was left in just her panties. The smaller girl gripped one side of them.  
  
  
“You...awfully fond of these, baby?” she asked and Tara just shook her head with a gulp, “Good.”  
  
  
She ripped the panties from her wife’s body and threw them somewhere in the room, not really caring where they landed. Her hands went to slink down the blonde’s curvaceous sides as her nose nestled into the top of her lover’s mound, inhaling deeply. She moaned at the intoxicating aroma before extending her tongue and taking one long lick the length of the taller girl’s slit.  
  
  
“Ohhhh,” Tara groaned, her hand pushing on the back of her wife’s head but Willow wouldn’t repeat the action, “Don’t stop.”  
  
  
Willow pulled her head back and grinned up at her wife.  
  
  
“Uh uh. That was just a taster. An apéritif, if you will.”  
  
  
Tara was about to protest when she caught the sensuous look in the redhead’s eyes and realised it would be a futile effort. Instead she placed a hand on her wife’s chest and pushed her back into a lying position before moving so she was hovering over her.   
  
  
“My turn to unwrap.”  
  
  
Willow just smiled and raised her arms over her head. Tara gripped the hem of her lover’s shirt beneath her and whipped it off in one swift movement before capturing her lips passionately.   
  
  
Willow moaned and threw her arms over her wife’s neck while the blonde’s hands deftly undid the front hook of the redhead’s bra and swatted the fabric aside, cupping the redhead’s pert breasts firmly.  
  
  
“Mmhh, Tara...” Willow groaned as the blonde expertly rolled her nipples between her fingers.  
  
  
Tara swooped her head down and captured her wife’s lips with her own, sucking the smaller girl’s bottom lip into her mouth and nibbling on it lightly.   
  
  
Willow moaned and grasped her lover’s hair with one hand while her other hand reached down and snapped open the button of her pants, pushing the fabric of those and her panties down as far as she could before kicking them the rest of the way off.  
  
  
She then took a hold of Tara’s hips and pushed them down to meet her own, gasping away from the kiss with a loud moan of pleasure as their cores lightly brushed off each other. She bent her knees and spread her legs into a comfortable position before guiding the blonde’s hips to roll against hers.  
  
  
“Mmunf...” she groaned again and strained her neck back against the pillows, “Oh baby...”  
  
  
Her moans got louder as she pulled Tara’s hips into her at a pace she was thoroughly enjoying until the blonde suddenly stopped.  
  
  
“No, no, no, no, no,” Willow panted, spring her eyes open only to see her wife start to kiss down her body, “Oh yes. Oh that’s good too. That’s good too, that’s – ahhh, Tara!”  
  
  
Her whole body jolted as she felt a warm and familiar tongue glide into her and slide along her heated flesh before soft lips covered her clit and began sucking.  
  
  
“Oh, oh, oh! Fuck! Oh my...Oh, Tara, baby...yes...”  
  
  
Tara had intended to keep the slow pace they had set while they were undressing each other but knew that effort would be futile now – Willow’s hips were bucking too wildly into her face and her mouth was answering by moving her jaw as quick as possible over her lover’s clit.  
  
  
They had the whole weekend to savour and enjoy each and every touch or look that passed between them, but they were too caught up in the moment and the flurry of pleasure that both girls were feeling to consider anything but give themselves over completely.  
  
  
Willow in particular felt her body grow taut as she prepared to let go of the tension that had quickly built, the frustrations of her own inner turmoil from before finally and completely starting to dissipate.   
  
  
Her fingers clutched and grabbed at the sheet beneath her and her eyes shut tight as nothing but her loud, incoherent moans filled the room, her body waiting the few seconds of glorious agony until she exploded completely.   
  
  
“Tarrraaa...”  
  
  
Tara felt the thighs around her ears clench and greedily gathered the juices freely flowing from her wife. Willow’s muscles stayed clenched around her for several long moments until her entire body went limp and the blonde could hear her take huge lungfuls of air.   
  
  
She gave a final, languid lick before crawling up her lover’s body and grinning down at the redhead.  
  
  
“Did the walls shake?”  
  
  
Willow fluttered her eyes open and smacked her lips together to get some moisture back in her mouth.  
  
  
“I dunno, but my whole world did. C’mere.”  
  
  
Tara leaned down and pressed her lips firmly against her wife’s, lazily kissing her until Willow pulled away with a grin.  
  
  
“That was...very, very nice,” she said before running her tongue over her own lips salaciously, “But that wasn’t the part of you I wanted up here.”  
  
  
Tara blushed as she understood what her wife meant and glanced upwards.  
  
  
“There’s no headboard.”  
  
  
“So?” Willow asked, running her hands down the taller girl’s shoulders, “We’re not newbies at this, baby, I can hold you. I’ve held you on my face plenty of times. Now come on, I’m thirsty.”  
  
  
Tara bit her lip in contemplation before giving the redhead a sultry half-smile.  
  
  
“Are you very thirsty?”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes lit up and she nodded energetically.  
  
  
“Very. _Very_. I think I might even be dehydrated.”  
  
  
Tara smirked.  
  
  
“I might have something to help with that.”  
  
  
Willow let out a shaky breath of excitement as the blonde started moving up her body and subconsciously licked her lips as the unadulterated view of her wife’s core came into view just inches away from her face.   
  
  
She settled her head comfortably against the pillows and rested her hands above the taller girls buttocks, letting her own anticipation build for a few moments before slipping her hands down to cup her lover’s butt and brought her down.  
  
  
“Mmhh...” Tara moaned as Willow’s tongue swiped through her and leaned forwards, placing her palms flat against the wall to put as little body weight as possible on her wife, “Oh Willow...”  
  
  
Willow ran her tongue along the blonde’s folds and let her juices fall back down her throat before wrapping her lips around the taller girl’s clit and moaning in appreciation of the taste.   
  
  
She felt Tara push herself just slightly against her and heard a long, quiet moan from above, so began a soft sucking motion on the throbbing nub in her mouth.  
  
  
“Oh god,” Tara panted, ripples of pleasure coursing through her body in continuous waves.  
  
  
Willow gently squeezed the blonde’s butt cheeks in synch with her sucking, getting gradually harder and harder until she sensed her wife was nearing her peak.   
  
  
She released her lover’s clit and heard a disappointed groan, followed by a surprised gasp when Willow pulled the taller girl down her body so they were face-to-face.  
  
  
“Your face,” Willow whispered as she simultaneously cupped the blonde’s cheek and entered her wife with two fingers, “I needed to see your face.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes glazed over but stayed open as an orgasm instantly hit her full force, her blue orbs shimmering and gazing into Willow’s green ones for several long moments until her body slumped and her eyes closed, her forehead resting against the redhead’s.  
  
  
Willow tenderly extracted her fingers and ran her hand up and down her wife’s back as she felt the taller girl’s hot, heavy breath on her lips and warm body on top of her.  
  
  
“I love you more than life, Tara,” she said in a low whisper and saw the taller girl flutter her eyes open.  
  
  
Tara licked her lips to regain some moisture in her mouth and leaned down to gently kiss her wife, answering the sentiment through her lips, not needing to say the words.   
  
  
They kissed leisurely and slowly for a few minutes before naturally pulling apart. Tara laid her head down on the redhead’s chest and the two just smiled at each other, quietly taking in one another’s features until Willow bit the side of her lip in contemplation.  
  
  
“I hope JJ’s ok–” she was cut off by a simple look from her wife and nodded, “I know. He’s okay. And if there’s an issue, Dad or Michelle will call us.”  
  
  
“Exactly,” Tara replied, snuggling into the redhead’s side, “And remember, this weekend–”  
  
  
Willow stroked her hand down her wife’s hair and smiled.  
  
  
“We’re just two people in love.”


	7. Chapter 7

  
Willow felt consciousness begin to seep into her brain, coupled with the very pleasant sensation of something soft running up and down her calf.   
  
  
She fluttered her eyes open and was met with Tara’s smiling face, propped up on her elbow and indentified the feeling on her calf as that of the skin of her wife’s foot.  
  
  
“Am I drooling?” she asked groggily, bringing a hand up to the side of her mouth and wiping it.  
  
  
Tara just shook her head  
  
  
“No.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her hand back down at her side, above the covers and crinkled her brow.  
  
  
“Then why are you staring?”  
  
  
“Because you’re beautiful,” Tara responded, as if it was obvious.  
  
  
Which to her, of course, it was.  
  
  
“Oh.”  
  
  
Willow blushed for a moment before getting a cheeky smile on her face and Tara suddenly found herself on her back with a very insistent thigh moving against her center.  
  
  
“And what do you think you’re doing?” Tara asked, trying to keep her composure but unable to stop the soft moan leaving her lips as the redhead’s skin brushed over her clit.  
  
  
Willow just smirked.  
  
  
“Do the words “morning lovin’” mean anything to you?”  
  
  
Tara adopted a sultry half-smile.  
  
  
“Do the words ‘horny wife’ mean anything to you?”  
  
  
“Oh yea,” Willow grinned, grabbing a hold of the blonde’s hips almost roughly, “It means I’m gonna make you scream my name.”  
  
  
Tara inhaled sharply as a flood of desire coursed through her and moaned as she felt Willow’s lips against the base of her throat, slowly moving upwards.   
  
  
She tilted her neck to the side as she felt the redhead start to move inwards and let out another moan as Willow’s hand slipped down between their bodies and quickly replaced her thigh by gliding two fingers into the blonde’s waiting wetness.  
  
  
“Were you taking sneaky peeks under the covers before I woke up?” Willow asking in a playful whisper as she swirled her tongue along her wife’s neck, “‘Cause I’ve only started to touch you and you’re _very_ wet.”  
  
  
“And that differs from usual how?” Tara asked breathlessly, fighting the urge to buck her hips, wanting to give total control over to her wife.  
  
  
Which Willow sensed. And loved.  
  
  
“You’re all mine, aren’t you, baby?”  
  
  
Tara’s hand moved up to entwine in her lover’s hair, holding her firmly in place as she moaned.  
  
  
“Always.”  
  
  
Willow complied with her wife’s silent request, continuing to lavish kisses and attention all over the skin of her neck while fingers ever so delicately made their way between the blonde’s folds until she slipped inside her in one swift movement, feeling ripples try to pull her roaming digits as far in as possible.  
  
  
“Oh...Oh, Willow...”  
  
  
Tara couldn’t control it as her hips started moving of their own accord against her wife’s delving fingers, taking them all and demanding more by the sheer strength by which they were bucking. Willow, knowing Tara and her body better than anything, answered the non-verbal plea and added a third finger to her constant thrusting.  
  
  
The ensuing tightness she felt around her and the incoherent moans leaving the blonde’s lips and falling straight into her ear as her mouth latched onto the taller girl’s pulsepoint proved too much for her own aching loins and without stopping the contact on her wife, threw her leg over Tara’s and moved around until she felt a steady friction against her clit.  
  
  
Tara let out a delighted moan as she felt her wife’s heated flesh glide against her and could only let out a wordless cry as the redhead’s fingers began curling and hitting against her sweet spot.   
  
  
She let the pressure build from everywhere, savouring every movement’s of Willow’s fingers, lips and body until she knew she needed to release the pressure inside her before she exploded and used her grip on the smaller girl’s hair to pull her up for a kiss.  
  
  
Willow could only smile softly and let her eyes flutter open and closed as a mass of warmth spread throughout her body, the sensation of the blonde’s lips pushing her over the edge.   
  
  
The only thing she was aware of was pleasure consuming her and the pleasure she could feel emanating from her wife, pooling together in a mass of ecstasy that both girls passed to each other as they kissed.  
  
  
An eventual, but reluctant, need for oxygen broke them apart a few moments later but they kept their contact close, resting their foreheads together as the redhead gently extracted her fingers and rested them lightly against her wife’s mound.  
  
  
“I don’t know how you do the things you do to me,” Willow said softly, her eyes smiling.  
  
  
Tara just gave a low, momentary laugh, her eyes sluggishly closing.  
  
  
“I do. Love.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small laugh too.  
  
  
“Well we do have a lot of that.”  
  
  
“Yes we do,” Tara murmured in response before Willow saw the sides of her lips quirk up just slightly, “You didn’t make me scream your name.”  
  
  
Willow’s own lips quirked upwards as she remembered her earlier pledge and before the blonde even registered the feeling of movement, the fingers resting on her mound had suddenly slipped between her lips and grabbed her clit in a tender but firm pinch.   
  
  
Tara’s eyes flew open at the contact, her hands flailing for a moment before they clung onto Willow’s shoulders, her nails digging into the skin there as her voice rung out through the room in a surprised, but pleasure-filled squeal.  
  
  
“Willow!”  
  
  
Willow grinned smugly as she saw her wife’s sudden orgasm wash over her face and felt it ring throughout the trembling body beneath her. She gently lessened the pressure of her fingertips around her lover’s throbbing nub before easing off completely and bringing her hand up to wipe some of the taller girl’s sweaty hair from her brow.  
  
  
“Never say I don’t keep my promises.”  
  
  
“Oh Willow,” Tara panted, struggling to regain her breath.  
  
  
Willow settled her body alongside her wife’s and threw her arm protectively over her waist with a satisfied sigh as she rested her head under the blonde’s chin.  
  
  
“I love how you say my name.”  
  
  
Tara, slightly recovered, but still with a bliss-filled smile plastered over her face, used all of her strength to start softly stroking her wife’s hair.  
  
  
“Willow, Willow, Willow,” she recited in an easy, loving tone, “So what are our plans for the day?”  
  
  
Willow nestled her head further beneath her wife’s chin.  
  
  
“Is there a problem with just this?”  
  
  
Tara laughed again.  
  
  
“Of course not.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and tapped her fingers lightly against the blonde’s hip before raising her head, remembering what her wife had said the day before as they had been walking to their cabin.  
  
  
“You want to see the grounds.”  
  
  
“Not if you don’t,” Tara replied in a relaxed tone, “I’m very happy to stay in bed all day.”  
  
  
Willow stretched her back muscles slightly and looked over her shoulder, towards the bathroom.  
  
  
“Why don’t you go have a nice, hot shower and I will order us some breakfast and then we can go see what beautiful scenery this place has to offer.”  
  
  
Tara looked off in mock-contemplation before giving a wry grin.  
  
  
“I presume you’re going to join me in this shower?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow replied, sticking the tip of her tongue out between her teeth, “You know I can’t resist the allure of a wet, naked Tara.”  
  
  
Tara just continued to grin and rolled on top of her wife. She pressed her lips firmly against the redhead’s for just a moment before jumping out of the bed and sauntering towards the bathroom, an obvious swing in her hips highlighting her naked rear.  
  
  
“I’ll be waiting,” she called out, over her shoulder in an alluring tone, “Don’t be long.”  
  
  
Willow watched her wife’s retreating form with unadorned lust, mixed with pure and utter love, until she disappeared into the room and the sound of running water could be heard.  
  
  
“I am the luckiest woman in the world.”  
  
  
She started humming gently as she picked up the phone that lay on the nightstand next to the bed, the line instantly connecting to the reception cabin.   
  
  
She asked for what she wanted to be delivered to their cabin before hanging up and quickly making her way into the bathroom too, not bothering to close the door as she slipped behind the curtain and encompassed her wife’s waist between her arms from behind underneath the steady stream of water.  
  
  
“We have 20 minutes...” she whispered as she kissed her away across the back of the blonde’s neck, “Before our breakfast arrives. Twenty. Long. Minutes.”  
  
  
“20 minutes, huh?” Tara asked, tilting her neck forwards just slightly, “Any ideas on how we can...fill that time?”  
  
  
Willow scraped her teeth over the skin on the blonde’s neck.  
  
  
“I have...a few ideas.”  
  
  
Tara placed her hand over one of Willow’s on her stomach and gently started pulling it upwards, over her breast and up her collarbone before taking a firm hold of her wife’s wrist and sucked one of her fingers into her mouth.  
  
  
Willow moaned softly as the blonde’s tongue bathed her finger in moisture and used her spare hand’s position on the taller girl’s waist to slowly spin her in place so they were facing each other.   
  
  
She felt her knees go weak at the salacious smile plastered on her wife’s face as the blonde continued to gently caress the redhead’s finger with her mouth.  
  
  
“I can still taste myself on you,” Tara whispered seductively, before dropping her spare hand and swirling it between her lover’s folds, then bringing it up to Willow’s mouth, “Turnabout is fair play.”  
  
  
Willow closed her lips over the offered digit and dragged them up and down, swirling her tongue over her wife’s skin as she did so. Tara’s eyelids visibly became heavy as her normally cerulean-blue orbs darkened into deep arousal and she pulled her finger from her wife’s mouth and sucked it into her own.  
  
  
“Yummy.”  
  
  
Willow gasped as she suddenly found herself pushed up against the cold tile on the wall and let out a shaky breath when she glanced down and saw Tara had gotten herself on her knees in front of her.  
  
  
“Oh boy.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled as moved her head forwards to nuzzle into her wife’s curls.  
  
  
“I’m not a boy.”  
  
  
Willow felt her head loll forwards and let out a low whimper as she felt the taller girl’s hot breath on her needy flesh.  
  
  
“Uh uh. No, you’re very much a woman. My woman. My perfect, sexy goddess of a wo-ohhh!”  
  
  
She couldn’t complete her sentence as a throaty moan left her lips at the feeling of her wife’s tongue sliding into her intimate folds.   
  
  
Her hand reached out, searching blindly for a few moments before she found the top of Tara’s head and began stroking her hair, giving her a soft but insistent push, moaning in appreciation when the blonde took the hint and she felt a warm tongue move down and inside her.  
  
  
“Yes, baby...”   
  
  
Tara could feel the steady beat of water falling onto her back from the shower head, mirroring the pulsation of her wife’s inner muscles around her probing tongue.   
  
  
She dragged her wriggling muscle along her wife’s walls, reaching for her sweet spot and moved her hands to grip Willow’s hips firmly, not wanting her to fall and hurt herself against the slippery surface of the shower.  
  
  
Willow wasn’t in the least bit concerned about the possibility of losing her footing, much too consumed with the unadulterated pleasure coursing through her.   
  
  
Tara’s tongue was hitting against her in the most delicious of manners and the tip of her nose was occasionally hitting against her throbbing clit, giving her a jolt of pleasure that sent her closer and closer to the edge.  
  
  
“Tara...baby...oh god...”  
  
  
Tara felt another push against the back of her head and quickened the pace of her strokes. She could feel Willow becoming undone around her, thighs trembling and juices flowing until the hand on her head entwined to almost painful levels and heard a strangled cry reverberate against the walls around them.  
  
  
“Tara!”  
  
  
Willow knew her legs would have buckled beneath her from the sheer strength of her orgasm, had it not been for her wife’s firm grip on her waist.   
  
  
A series of low moans escaped her mouth as the pleasure ebbed and flowed through her until she made a conscious effort to loosen the grip on the blonde’s hair and returned to softly stroking it.  
  
  
Tara took that as a sign that Willow had recovered enough for her to stop her attentions and eased her tongue out of her lover’s body before straightening herself up, keeping her hold on the redhead steady.   
  
  
She was about to lean in to kiss the small girl when a loud banging made her jump back slightly.  
  
  
“They’re early,” she said, giving her wife a small smile, “You get washed up. I’ll pour the tea.”  
  
  
Willow watched Tara step out of the shower and saw her silhouette slip a robe over her shoulders and leave the bathroom, through the shower curtain.   
  
  
She momentarily cursed not shutting the bathroom door, thinking it might of muffled the sound of the food arriving and she could have gotten the much-needed kiss she wanted at that moment but didn’t dwell on it, quickly soaping and lathering her body, then rinsing it off when she was clean.  
  
  
She turned the water off and pulled the curtain back, taking the second white, fluffy robe offered in the room and wrapped it around herself, too antsy to even towel-dry herself first.   
  
  
She peered out the door and saw Tara popping a strawberry into her mouth from the selection of dishes on a pull-away cart that breakfast had been delivered on, so she quickly scurried out and stepped in front of her wife, throwing her arms around the blonde’s neck and pressing their lips firmly together.  
  
  
Tara murmured her approval into the kiss and placed her hands on Willow’s robe-clothed hips. She was just seconds away from pulling on the tie to let her hands caress her wife’s skin when the redhead pulled back with a mock-stern glare.  
  
  
“You make a girl feel very vulnerable when you make her see stars like that then don’t even give her a little smooch afterwards.”  
  
  
Tara brought her hand up and tucked a piece of her wife’s damp hair behind her ear before leaning over and placing two, soft but sweet kisses on her lips in quick succession.  
  
  
“I’m sorry. There’s two to make up for it.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and got a giddy smile on her face.  
  
  
“Okay,” she replied, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, before looking over at the food, “Wow, this looks great!”  
  
  
“Is there anything you didn’t order?” Tara questioned with a small laugh, looking over the array of hot and cold breakfast foods.  
  
  
“Well we didn’t have a menu so I just told them to send whatever breakfast things they had up,” Willow explained as she pulled the cart over to the small table in the room, placing the two plates provided on either side of it before sitting on one of the chairs and smiling up at her wife, “Aren’t you gonna join me for breakfast?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara answered, taking the seat opposite the redhead, “Hmm, I don’t know what to have...”  
  
  
Willow reached over to retrieve her wife’s plate and put a halved bagel on it, with a couple of strips of crispy bacon and a small rounded dish that had a creamy white substance in it that Tara could identify as cream cheese by the look.  
  
  
“Eat this, it’s nice and substantial since we’ll we walking around. Oh and have some fruit. Tea?”  
  
  
Tara nodded with a smile as she took the bowl of mixed fruit Willow was holding out to her and scooped some onto her plate, putting it back down between them before one of the mugs of tea she’d made earlier while Willow was still in the shower was handed over to her, the redhead having added just the right amount of milk and small pinch of sugar that she liked.  
  
  
“Perfect,” she breathed over the mug as she took a sip.  
  
  
“I know you are,” Willow grinned across the table as she spread some scrambled egg over a piece of toast.  
  
  
Tara blushed and ducked her head slightly at the compliment before snapping off a piece of bacon and chewing on it slowly. Without realising she was doing it, she started running her toes along her wife’s foot beneath the table.  
  
  
Willow smiled at the contact and moved her own foot so her toes were tickling the blonde’s. Tara seemed to become aware of their game of footsie then and smiled too, happy to engage in the play as they both ate their fill of food and downed another cup of tea each.  
  
  
“Eurgh, definitely need a walk after that,” Willow said, leaning back in her chair and putting a hand on her stomach, “Breakfast that good should be criminalised for crimes against your digestive system.”  
  
  
“It was quite delicious,” Tara agreed, taking the final sip from her coffee and standing up, stretching her back until she felt a satisfying ‘pop’, “Would you like me to hand you some clothes?”  
  
  
Willow was about to say yes when she thought better of it, the prospect of watching Tara getting changed much more alluring.  
  
  
“I, um, haven’t decided what to wear yet,” she answered, hiding a grin, “Need another minute.”  
  
  
She watched as Tara gave a small nod and relaxed even further into her seat, unable to hide her grin this time as the blonde slipped the robe over her shoulder and threw it onto the bed, leaving her nude.  
  
  
“I think you dropped something, baby.”  
  
  
Tara had no idea what she could have dropped considering the only thing she’d been wearing was spread out on the mattress, but bent over anyway to look for this mystery item.   
  
  
Which was when she heard a stifled giggle and looked over her shoulder, straightening up and rolling her eyes when she saw her wife was quite obviously checking her out.  
  
  
“If you wanted me to bend over, all you had to do was ask.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow giggled before gesturing with her hand, “Bend over.”  
  
  
Tara again rolled her eyes playfully and bent over to unzip the bag they’d brought with them, retrieving underwear and the clothes she wanted for the day, hearing a dissatisfied noise when she dragged her panties up her legs.  
  
  
“I can hear you pouting,” she said in a mirth-filled voice as her black pants followed her panties and she started looking around the room, “Where did you throw my bra last night?”  
  
  
“Somewhere you’ll never find it!” Willow declared in a defiant voice, crossing her arms over her chest and raising her chin, “We’ll live in a land where bras don’t exist and your boobs roam free for my eyes to devour whenever I like.”  
  
  
Tara put a hand on the side of her hip, not caring how silly she looked doing it topless and quirked an eyebrow at her wife.  
  
  
“Your eyes and everyone else's?”  
  
  
Willow’s smug grin faltered as she thought of anyone else seeing her wife’s breasts and she pouted, knowing she’d have to admit defeat.  
  
  
“Behind the nightstand.”  
  
  
“Thank you, darling,” Tara replied, going over to the nightstand and seeing the strap of her bra sticking out from behind.  
  
  
Willow watched as Tara fitted her bra over her shoulders and smiled when she saw her slipped a low-cut shirt on as well, one that happened to amplify her cleavage greatly, even with the light pink sweater the blonde had decided to adorn as well. She quietly stood up and walked over, wrapping her arms around her wife’s waist from behind.  
  
  
“You’re as sexy as the day we met. More so. Every day, you get more and more beautiful and I love you more than I ever thought possible.”  
  
  
Tara leaned back into the embrace and put her hands over the redhead’s.  
  
  
“I thought you had eggs for breakfast, not a bowl of Cheesy-O’s.”  
  
  
Willow knew her wife was teasing and smiled for a moment before adopting a suitably offended tone.  
  
  
“Geez, I try to be romantic...”  
  
  
“And you succeed very well,” Tara responded warmly, “I love you too.”  
  
  
Willow squeezed the blonde’s midsection for a moment before pushing off.  
  
  
“Good. Now, I think I’ve decided what to wear...”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes playfully and sat down on the edge of the bed to put on socks and the boots she’d worn the day before, deciding they were comfortable but sturdy enough to handle trekking around the grounds as Willow changed into a skirt and warm sweater.  
  
  
“Did you steal my socks?” Willow asked as she rooted through the bag for a pair.  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow at her wife as she tied the laces on her boots.  
  
  
“10 years, Willow. We’ve been sharing socks for 10 years. And many other items of clothing. The only thing we haven’t worn of each other’s are bras.”  
  
  
“And only ‘cause my little apples are no match for your melons,” Willow giggled as she unzipped the front pouch of the bag, “You’re lucky the mother in me always packs extra.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and stood up, straightening out all of her clothes and grabbing a hair tie to fasten her hair on top of her head.  
  
  
“Your neurosis had you packing extras long before we became mothers.”  
  
  
Willow narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her wife before slipping the socks over her feet and fitting herself into her shoes.  
  
  
“Okay. I’m all ready.”  
  
  
Tara held out her hand in offering which Willow gladly took as the blonde led them out the door of their cabin.  
  
  
“Left or right?”  
  
  
The surrounding grounds of the cabin were quite large but there were designated paths designed so that anyone walking them could always find their way back safely.   
  
  
Willow remembered Becky telling her about a man-made lake area in the south part of the grounds that was apparently quite spectacular so decided they should head in that general direction.  
  
  
“Right,” she said after a moment and pulled her wife in that direction and they started a leisurely pace, “It’s nice and sunny today.”  
  
  
“It’s been a beautiful fall,” Tara agreed as the odd errant leaf crunched beneath her boots, “It’s supposed to be a harsh winter.”  
  
  
Willow looked excited at that.  
  
  
“That means snow!”  
  
  
Tara laughed and shook her head slightly.  
  
  
“It also means ice. And we don’t want a repeat of last year when our over-zealous son got hyped up by his even more over-zealous mother and almost broke his arm when he fell off a runaway sled.”  
  
  
Willow grimaced as she remembered the winter before when she’d pushed JJ just a little too hard down a small snow-hill that had formed and the icy conditions meant the bottom of the sled didn’t grip quite as well as it should’ve.  
  
  
“God, I still feel awful about that.”  
  
  
Tara dropped the redhead’s hand to wrap it around her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.  
  
  
“Don’t, honey. It was barely even a sprain. And if you hadn’t been there to grab the sled before it went too out of control, it could’ve been a lot worse. Okay?” she asked and saw her wife give a small, grateful smile, “Good. Now, that qualifies as kiddie talk, which we agreed to have none of.”  
  
  
Willow’s smile got wider and she rested the side of her head on Tara’s shoulder, wrapping her arm around her waist as they walked. They strolled in relative silence for a little while, comfortable just to be with each other until the redhead noticed something just ahead and pointed with her spare hand.  
  
  
“Look, baby, squirrels!”  
  
  
Tara followed where her wife was pointing and smiled when she saw two squirrels running around just off the path.  
  
  
“They’re playing together,” she commented with a smile, “How cute.”  
  
  
Willow laughed and was about to remark further when she saw how the animals had suddenly moved and cleared her throat.  
  
  
“Um, I think Mr. Squirrel has a certain kind of play in mind.”  
  
  
Tara stifled a laugh and brought her hand up to her mouth when she saw that one of the squirrels, presumably a male, had moved himself behind the other and was gyrating his lower half in a particularly rhythmic manner.  
  
  
“Squirrel babies have to be born somehow,” she said eventually, still trying not to laugh.  
  
  
“I don’t think the girl is very receptive to this squirrel lovin’,” Willow replied, her tone full of mirth as she saw the other squirrel try to run away as the male continued to try and get on top of her, “Heh, maybe they’re married.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife a sidelong glance as they passed the animals and bumped her hip slightly against the redhead’s.  
  
  
“You should know better than anyone, honey, that sex decreasing after marriage is just not true. In fact, I think we could argue that we have even more than when we were dating.”  
  
  
“Ain’t that the truth,” Willow grinned, “Nothing beats some wifey lovin’. Mmhh...in fact...”  
  
  
Tara yelped as she suddenly found herself pushed up against the large trunk of one of the trees surrounding them with Willow’s lips trailing across the skin on her neck.   
  
  
She contained a small moan and instinctively tilted her neck before pushing the redhead back and giving her a half-joking smile.  
  
  
“Um, Willow...you didn’t just get turned on by watching two squirrels going at it, did you?”  
  
  
“No,” Willow replied, moving her body forwards so she was pinning her wife completely against the tree, “I got turned on by the thoughts of a naked you running through my head.”  
  
  
Tara could feel the smaller girl’s heavy breath on her lips and felt a flood of arousal go through her in response. She gasped when she felt nimble fingers start to unbutton her pants and put a hand over the redhead’s to stop her.  
  
  
“Willow, anyone could walk by.”  
  
  
“We haven’t met anyone yet,” Willow replied as she batted the blonde’s hand away, too consumed with her own desire to think of anything but going with, “You got a taste earlier, now it’s my turn.”  
  
  
Tara watched in shock as Willow yanked down her pants and panties before getting on her knees in front of her. The heat coursing through her body stopped any chill in the air from reaching her and an inescapable, loud moan left her lips when a wet tongue slipped into her core before she even realised what was happening, a hand either side of her naked buttocks to protect her from the harsh bark of the tree trunk.  
  
  
“Oh god, Willow,” she moaned, looking all around her to make sure nobody was around, “Willow, we can’t...you need to stop...oh god, you need to...oh...don’t stop.”  
  
  
Tara’s body quickly took control of her mind, shutting off the small portion of her brain that was resisting and focusing on nothing but the quickly mounting pleasure. Her mind was careful enough to make sure she kept her tone low, however, as quiet, almost incoherent moans left her mouth.  
  
  
“Ugh...oh...ummm....oh!”  
  
  
Willow felt her wife’s hips bucking into her face and delighted in the sensation for a moment before wrapping her lips around the blonde’s clit and sucking with gusto – it was always a sure fire way to get Tara to release quickly and while Willow had been the one to start this endeavour, she was quite aware that it was no time for dilly-dallying.   
  
  
It took barely a minute before Willow heard a hitched breath that she knew indicated her lover’s impending orgasm and opened her mouth to accept the onslaught of juices that Tara released a moment later.  
  
  
Tara managed to contain the cry that wanted to erupt from her chest as her whole body burst in pleasure. She let her mouth hang open instead, only vaguely aware of a few soft licks to her sated core and the feeling of clothing being refastened around her before her body slumped against the tree.  
  
  
Willow grabbed the taller girl’s waist to keep her steady and pressed her lips tenderly against her wife’s to bring her back into the realm of consciousness.   
  
  
Tara responded after a few seconds and they kissed lazily for several long minutes until the blonde pushed Willow back just slightly and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
  
“Against a tree? Really?”  
  
  
“You were enjoying it a second ago,” Willow grinned, “Now we can add ‘forest’ to the list of places we’ve gotten naughty.”  
  
  
Tara grinned too.  
  
  
“You keep a list?”  
  
  
“Only in my head,” Willow laughed, “I think any of our male friends would have a heart attack if they ever got a hold of an actual list. Are you able to walk? Apparently there’s a really beautiful lake on the grounds and I don’t think it’s far from here.”   
  
  
Tara reached down to entwine her fingers with the redhead’s.  
  
  
“I’ll need you to hold my hand.”  
  
  
Willow brought her wife’s hand up to her mouth and kissed her knuckles.  
  
  
“Not a problem.”  
  
  
They set off again, though at an even more sedate pace than before as Tara’s relaxed muscles didn’t want to move much and leisurely chatted as they strolled down the different, twisting paths until they eventually walked behind a clearing of trees and came across a large half-circled shape area of grass that lead directly onto a shimmering lake of water.  
  
  
The backdrop to the lake was by far the most spectacular part of the area though, rolling hills surrounding the water that stretched out for miles.  
  
  
“Who knew a little piece of heaven existed in upstate New York?” Willow asked in awe as she looked around.  
  
  
“How is this place not crowded with people?” Tara questioned, also taking everything in, “I’m sure they advertise this area in the little pamphlets in the room.”  
  
  
“This place is marketed at couples. Couples like us, who just want some time alone. Most probably don’t even leave the cabin,” Willow replied softly before grinning, “Besides, you didn’t even look at those pamphlets and you actually wanted to see the grounds.”  
  
  
Tara had to concede that point with a smile.  
  
  
“Well that’s true,” she said before her smile turned into a grin and she turned to face her wife, “You know...I’ve always wanted to try skinny dipping.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes bugged out of her head and she almost choked on air.  
  
  
“What?!”  
  
  
Tara got a mischievous glint in her eye; she was feeling emboldened by their little stint in the forest. She trailed a finger down her wife’s chest, over her sweater and adopted a low, sultry tone.  
  
  
“You’re all for the exhibitionism when you’re taking me against a tree but now you’re feeling shy?”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes got impossibly wider as Tara didn’t wait for a response and started walking backwards, slowly unbuttoning her sweater as she did so.   
  
  
The blonde’s clothing continued to be shed as she made her way towards the bank of the lake until a final tug against each of her shoe strings enabled her to kick off her boots and socks and she sank back into the water so it covered her up to just above her breasts.   
  
  
She gave Willow her best alluring look.  
  
  
“I thought you couldn’t resist a wet, naked Tara?”  
  
  
Willow couldn’t argue with that logic and the last of her modesty swiftly evaporated as she stripped off faster than lightening and almost ran into the water and up to Tara, where the blonde cupped the redhead’s buttocks beneath the water.   
  
  
Willow took the hint and wrapped her legs around her wife’s waist, the buoyancy of the water allowing their position to be held with ease.  
  
  
“10 years and you’re still surprising me,” Willow said adoringly as she affectionately massaged the back of her wife’s neck, then trailing one hand along the top of the water, “Surprisingly warm, huh?”  
  
  
“The sun’s beating down on us,” Tara smiled, swaying their bodies around in the water.  
  
  
Willow put her hands just below the blonde’s shoulders and slowly inched them down until the base of her palms were resting on Tara’s breasts.  
  
  
“I know we’ve been acting like a couple of horny teenagers today,” she said quietly, her gaze dropped before she raised it to meet her wife’s eyes, “But would you hold it against me if I asked you to make love with me right now?”  
  
  
“The only thing I’m going to hold against you,” Tara replied with a loving but somewhat-cheeky grin, “Is my body.”  
  
  
Willow’s face lit up.  
  
  
“That works for me,” she replied softly before looking around them, “Do you need something to lean against?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“I’ll keep us steady.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes for a moment.  
  
  
“You always keep me steady.”  
  
  
She fluttered her eyes open to an adoring look on her wife’s face and moved forwards so their lips began to caress each other lightly.   
  
  
She felt one of Tara’s hand move off her buttocks and between their bodies, so let one of her own fall further down while her second hand went to grip her lover’s shoulder.   
  
  
She moaned into the kiss as her fingers swirled into the blonde’s folds, wet with so much more than just water and bucked her hips when she felt Tara copy her actions.   
  
  
She crossed her ankles against her wife’s lower back to tighten the hold they had on each other as, as if in one mind, both women entered each other simultaneously.   
  
  
The position was easier to hold than either had anticipated as they fluidly moved in and out of one another, their kisses getting deeper but staying at a sedate, relaxed pace.   
  
  
While both had been overcome with passion in their trysts so far that day, it was love that was pushing them forwards in this instance, but with the passion still burning like an inferno deep inside them, quelled by the emotions both women were passing to each other through their lips and bodies.  
  
  
“I love you, Tara,” Willow breathed against her wife’s lips as they broke for oxygen for just a moment.  
  
  
Tara responded by capturing the redhead’s lips again, kissing her with gusto for the next several long minutes before she knew they were both on the edge of climax and pulled away to stare into the green depths she adored so much.  
  
  
They stared into one another’s eyes are their bodies became awash with heat. Tara’s toes curled into the sand beneath her feet and she felt Willow’s heels dig into her for a few moments before they both relaxed and rested their foreheads against each other.  
  
  
“I love you too,” Tara said eventually, a serene smile plastered on her face.  
  
  
Willow’s lips quirked into a smile and she dropped her head, resting her cheek against her wife’s shoulder. Tara started to sway them just slightly as they embraced until Willow pulled back and looked thoughtful.  
  
  
“I have an idea. Why don’t we go visit that little town we passed on the way in? We can browse the boutiques and I’m sure they have a nice, little, intimate, Italian restaurant we could eat at. And maybe we could buy some candles in one of these little boutiques to bring back after and we can...maybe...take our time?”  
  
  
Tara could only nod, her smile widening.  
  
  
“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea,” she replied before indicating towards the grass, “We should probably put some clothes on before we get caught and kicked out.”  
  
  
“That would be awkward explaining to Dad while we’re collecting JJ early,” Willow giggled and then pointed towards a large hedge that was along the grass, “We could probably hide out behind that for a few minutes and dry off so our clothes don’t get all wet. Up for a bit of naked sunbathing?”  
  
  
“We’ve lost all our other inhibitions today,” Tara grinned, “Why not?”  
  
  
Willow smiled and placed a final loving kiss on her wife’s lips before releasing her limbs so they fell down. She took the blonde’s hands beneath the water and walked them both out of the lake where they both quickly gathered their discarded clothing and made their way behind the hedge, hiding them from anyone who made their way to the area from the only path that led there.  
  
  
“This is not normal behaviour for a pair of 30 year old, employed-by-the-government, tax-paying, mothers,” Tara commented as they both lay down on their backs, looking upwards.  
  
  
Willow turned her gaze to her wife’s with a smirk.  
  
  
“We’re not a pair of 30 year old, employed-by-the-government, tax-paying mothers, remember?” she asked, squeezing the hand still entwined with hers, “We’re just two people in love.”  
  
  
“Ah, of course,” Tara replied, matching the redhead’s smirk, “In that case, this is completely normal.”  
  
  
Willow chuckled and shuffled slightly so her body curled into her wife’s naked side.  
  
  
“Pretty much.”  
  
  
They cuddled in silence as the sun beat down on them, drying them completely in only a few minutes, after which they decided to get dressed straight away, figuring they’d tempted fate enough for that day.  
  
  
They strolled back along the pathway, still not meeting anyone along the way until they arrived back at the cabin, staying only a moment to grab their purses before making their way to where they had parked the car. Willow drove the short 5 mile journey to what was the nearest neighbouring town and parked along the street, putting enough coins in the meter to last them the evening.  
  
  
“Well, look at that,” Willow smiled as she looked at the establishment they’d happened to park in front of and read the sign hanging above it, “La Dolce Vita. I think you’ll find, my love, that that is a nice, little, intimate, Italian restaurant. Was I right or what?”  
  
  
“As ever,” Tara replied lovingly as she walked onto the sidewalk and linked arms with her wife, “Do you think we need to make a reservation?”  
  
  
“Nah, this is a small town, I think we’ll be fine,” Willow responded as she started walking them down along the street, “Would an early dinner work for you? I know we had a late breakfast but I think I’ll be hungry in an hour or two.”  
  
  
Tara nodded in agreement.  
  
  
“That sounds just about perfect.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and leaned over to place a quick kiss on the blonde’s cheek before stopping to admire some dresses in a store window. The couple walked around the very few, but select, shopping streets that the town offered for the next while, stopping in some to appreciate a certain item of nice clothing or to look at artwork that local merchants were selling.  
  
  
“We could probably get some candles in here,” Tara said as the passed a boutique home store, “Then we could go for dinner? I’m getting pretty peckish.”  
  
  
Willow nodded with a smile, she’d been going to suggest they stop off for food soon as well as it was swiftly getting dark and she figured the stores would be closing soon anyway. They walked through the door of the store and were instantly hit by the scent of sandalwood incense.   
  
  
Tara walked over to where there was a display of jewellery and Willow perused the aisles for a few minutes, internally laughing at some of the kooky lamps and statues that were on sale before joining her wife at the counter, seeing her looking intently at a solid silver, inch-wide band with a circular red gem joining the sides together in the middle.  
  
  
“That’s pretty,” she commented and saw Tara give a fond smile before looking over to her.  
  
  
“Yea. Did you pick up some candles?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head and bit the side of her lip.  
  
  
“Uh no, I forgot.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and gave the redhead’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze.  
  
  
“I’ll go find some.”  
  
  
Willow watched Tara disappear behind a row of shelves and discreetly got the attention of the woman sales clerk who had been standing not far away, behind the counter.  
  
  
“Can I get that one there?” she asked quietly, pointing to the bracelet her wife had just been admiring.  
  
  
“This one?” the woman, whose name tag said ‘Olivia’, asked, keeping her tone as well.  
  
  
Willow nodded with a smile, looking over her shoulder to make sure Tara was still occupied and got her wallet ready as Olivia retrieved the bracelet and placed it in a black, silk box.   
  
  
“I don’t need a bag,” Willow said quickly, handing over her credit card and taking the box in her hand, opening it for just a moment to look at the bracelet up close.  
  
  
“It’s a real garnet, you know,” Olivia commented as she ran the credit card through the system.  
  
  
Willow smiled warmly.  
  
  
“Perfect. That’s her birthstone.”  
  
  
Olivia handed a receipt with a pen over the counter and Willow quickly pocketed the box and signed the receipt.  
  
  
“Is it your anniversary?” Olivia enquired as she tucked the receipt away and handed Willow her card back with another receipt.  
  
  
“No,” Willow shook her head, pushing the receipt into her pocket as well to hide any evidence of her purchase, “I just love her.”  
  
  
Tara appeared back around the aisle at the moment, holding two wide, circular, purple candles and one of similar size that was just plain white.  
  
  
“I got lavender and vanilla,” she said softly as she walked up to Willow, “Is that okay?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow smiled as Tara put the candles on the counter.  
  
  
Olivia held back a grin and rung up the candles, placing them in a small, red plastic bag with the store name embossed on it and handed Tara the change from the $20 she had handed over.  
  
  
“Thank you for your purchase.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara smiled politely and took Willow’s hand as she led them out of the store.  
  
  
Willow mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Olivia just before they left and shut the door behind them when they did.  
  
  
“So...food?” Tara asked.  
  
  
“Yes, food,” Willow replied as her stomach rumbled, “I think my belly agrees.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as they made their way down a side street and crossed the road over to the restaurant, which was just over half-filled with other patrons.  
  
  
“Hello and welcome to La Dolce Vita,” a youngish man with a name tag that said ‘Vinnie’ greeted them, “Table for two?”  
  
  
“Please,” Willow answered and they were led to a table beside the window, where they sat and Vinnie handed them each a menu.  
  
  
“Can I get you ladies some drinks?”  
  
  
“Have a drink if you want, baby,” Willow smiled across the table, “I’m driving.”  
  
  
“Um, I’ll have a glass of the house wine,” Tara said to Vinnie who smiled in response.  
  
  
“And I’ll have an Iced Tea with a slice of lemon, please,” Willow said.  
  
  
“I’ll be right back with those,” Vinnie responded before disappearing.  
  
  
Both women opened the menu and started to look through the selection but Willow spoke up after only a moment.  
  
  
“Well I don’t need to see the rest of the menu. Clam linguine, I’m sold.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and continued to look at her menu.  
  
  
“I think I may be in a pasta mood myself. Would you like to share a Portobello mushroom to start?”  
  
  
Willow gave a small murmur of approval.  
  
  
“Mmhh, I love those things, yes please.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and looked over the menu for another few moments until Vinnie appeared with a small circler tray. He placed their respective drinks in front of them and a bowl of bread in the middle of the table.  
  
  
“Are you ready to order?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“I think we need another minute.”  
  
  
“No, I know what I want,” Tara replied, closing her menu, “Can we get the garlic encrusted Portobello mushroom to start and I’ll have the chicken and mushroom fettuccine.”  
  
  
“And, um, clam linguine for me,” Willow added, “Light on the sauce.”  
  
  
Vinnie nodded and smiled.  
  
  
“Excellent choices. I’ll be back with your food as soon as it’s ready.”  
  
  
He went off again and Tara took a sip of her wine.  
  
  
“That’s it,” Willow said in a mock-evil tone filled with mirth, “Get nice and drunk so I can take advantage of you later.”  
  
  
Tara swirled her wine in her glass, an amused look on her face.  
  
  
“If alcohol is the only way to have your way with me then how do you explain, hmm, how about...the entire day?”  
  
  
Willow blushed and grinned.  
  
  
“Oh that’s simple. You were drunk. Drunk on love.”  
  
  
Tara let out a low laugh and reached across the table to entwine her hand with her wife’s.  
  
  
“I love you, my sweet, silly Willow.”  
  
  
Willow blushed again and squeezed the blonde’s hand before dropping it and reaching into pocket and producing the box she had stashed in there, setting it down in front of her wife.  
  
  
“Got ya something.”  
  
  
Tara picked up the box curiously.  
  
  
“What’s this?”  
  
  
“Open and see,” Willow responded, moving so her chin was resting on her palm.  
  
  
Tara rubbed the silky fabric beneath her thumb for a moment before popping the box open. She stared at the bracelet for a moment before looking up at the redhead with smiling eyes.  
  
  
“Never let it be said I don’t treat my woman right,” Willow said chirpily, “You like it, right?”  
  
  
“I love it,” Tara replied, taking the bracelet from its box and slipping it over her wrist, “I love you. Thank you.”  
  
  
“You’re very welcome,” Willow smiled, reaching out and tracing the pattern of the gem on the bracelet, “It looks great on you.”  
  
  
Tara blushed and admired her new jewellery for a few moments before a large plate was being placed between them.  
  
  
“Garlic encrusted Portobello mushroom with a balsamic vinegar dressing,” Vinnie rattled off with a smile, “Enjoy, ladies.”  
  
  
“Mmhh, looks yummy,” Willow said as she cut the large mushroom into 4 pieces and speared one piece into her mouth, almost moaning at the silken feel and sharp taste, “Very yummy.”  
  
  
Both women enjoyed the rest of their appetizer and chatted happily through their main course as well, gushing about how delicious their pasta dishes were and singing the restaurant’s praises even further when their bill came along and it was exceptionally low for the quality food and ambiance their evening had entailed.  
  
  
“Do you have the candles?” Willow asked as they pulled up back in the parking area of the cabin lodgings.  
  
  
“I do,” Tara replied, holding up the bag with the items in question as she opened the car door and got out.  
  
  
“Excellent,” Willow responded, taking something quickly from the glove compartment before following her wife out of their car and towards their cabin.  
  
  
When they arrived, Tara went to set the candles on the dresser across from the bed but Willow walked over to her and put a hand on her wrist to stop her.  
  
  
“We should put them on the nightstand. That way we won’t have to get up to blow them out later. And, um, if I have my way, you won’t be _able_ to get up.”  
  
  
“Well, then,” Tara smirked, “Nightstand it is.”  
  
  
She walked over to one of the nightstands and placed one of the purple candles down before making her way around the bed to the other one and placed the remaining purple candle and while one beside each on that. Is was then she realised they had a small problem.  
  
  
“Um, sweetheart,” she said, spinning around to face her wife, “We don’t have anything to light them with.”  
  
  
“Damn,” Willow cursed under her breath before brightening up and walking over to where she’d dropped her purse, rooting through it for a second before producing a box of matches, “Voila! I confiscated them off JJ yesterday.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes widened in horror.  
  
  
“He was playing with matches?!”  
  
  
“Actually,” Willow grinned, “Apparently, he took them from another boy in his class, because ‘since he’s going to be a firefighter when he’s all grown up, he knows how dangerous fire is’. His words.”  
  
  
Tara looked both impressed and proud.  
  
  
“That’s our boy.”  
  
  
“That he is,” Willow replied, throwing the matches across the room, which Tara caught with both hands, “Get lightin’, baby.”  
  
  
She saw Tara turn back to the candles to light them before she reached into her own pocket and took out the Ipod and small, flat travel speaker that she’d taken from the glove compartment earlier.   
  
  
She plugged the speakers into the music device and turned it on, scrolling until she found an appropriate song and smiling as the soft tune of Melanie Doane’s [I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN5iB9A8ALI) started ringing throughout the room.  
  
  
Tara turned around, surprised at the sound of music and was met with Willow holding her hand out in invitation.  
  
  
“Care to dance, m’lady?”  
  
  
“I would love to,” Tara replied, taking the offered hand and giggling as she was spun around and pulled into the redhead, “Ever the astute on her feet.”  
  
  
Willow settled her hands on her wife’s waist and felt Tara’s wrap around her neck as they started to sway.  
  
  
“More like ever the spaz who’s prone to tripping up,” she answered before adopting a softer tone, “Except when my Tara’s there to keep me steady. Like, as previously discussed, she always does.”  
  
  
Tara smiled lovingly for a second before moving to rest her head against the redhead’s shoulder. Willow copied the action and both women moved around to the tune of the music in silence until Willow felt the need to speak up again, in a quiet whisper.  
  
  
“You make me feel like I’m floating on air.”  
  
  
Tara audibly inhaled the scent emanating from her wife’s hair before also speaking in the same hushed tone.  
  
  
“And you make me feel like I’m a goddess.”  
  
  
They lapsed into silence for a moment before Willow spoke up again.  
  
  
“You know this song was written about a television?”  
  
  
Tara let out a low laugh.  
  
  
“Way to ruin the romance.”  
  
  
Willow placed a soft kiss against her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“Nothing could ruin our romance.”  
  
  
The song came to an end then and when no new music followed, Willow lifted her head up and used her grip on her wife’s waist to pull her towards the bed. They fell back onto it and began to leisurely kiss until Willow put a hand on the blonde’s shoulder to stop them, smiling up at her.  
  
  
“Clothes are just going to get in the way.”  
  
  
Tara sat back on her heels so she was straddling the redhead and held her arms up.  
  
  
“Well then, I think we need to get rid of them.”  
  
  
Willow lifted the hem of her wife’s shirt and pulled it over her head, throwing it somewhere on the floor. She then pushed herself up into a sitting position between the blonde’s legs so Tara could undress her as well.  
  
  
When all their clothing had been removed, both girls peppering the other’s newly-revealed pieces of skin with wet kiss, they fell back onto the mattress again, Tara’s body covering the redhead’s as she gazed down at her wife, her eyes filled with love.  
  
  
“I want to kiss every inch of your beautiful skin, my sweet.”  
  
  
Willow let out a low moan and relaxed back into the bed as Tara’s lips began trailing across her chest.  
  
  
“Every inch of my skin wants to be kissed by you.”  
  
  
Tara spent the next indeterminate amount of time pressing her lips against every inch of her lover’s skin, as promised, before Willow gently turned them and gave the blonde the same treatment.  
  
  
When both women’s bodies were tingling with need and desire, they settled into a comfortable position and let their hands find their way into familiar wetness, thrusting and dragging their fingers until both cried out their release and collapsed into each other, completely spent.  
  
  
“I had the best day, Tara,” Willow said sleepily as the blonde gathered the blanket around them and took the redhead in her arms, “The best.”  
  
  
“Me too, sweetie,” Tara replied, smiling as Willow tucked her head beneath her chin and wrapped an arm around her waist, “Would you like to maybe get up early tomorrow? I know we had a very...strenuous day, but I was thinking we could watch the sunrise down by the lake.”  
  
  
Willow’s lids were heavy with exhaustion but she managed to cuddle into her wife even more.  
  
  
“That sounds wonderful. Only if you wake me up with kisses though.”  
  
  
Tara reached out with one hand and turned the dial on the small travel alarm clock that was on the nightstand to the appropriate time before blowing out the flickering candles, then wrapping her arm back around Willow’s body.  
  
  
“Kisses. I promise.”  
  
  
It didn’t take long for them both to succumb to sleep, their slumber relaxed with the peace of mind that only holding and being held by your soulmate can bring.


	8. Chapter 8

  
  
“Look at that, we’re right in time,” Willow beamed as they walked through the clearing of trees so they were looking out over the lake, where the sun was just beginning to peek out over the rolling hills.  
  
  
Tara feigned shock.  
  
  
“Were those real words leaving your mouth and not incoherent mumbles and grumbles?”  
  
  
Willow blushed and playfully bumped her shoulder against her wife’s. She’d been more than a little groggy waking at the early hour to see the sunrise, but had perked up on the walk from the cabin, the fresh morning air blasting the last of her lethargy from her.  
  
  
“It’s still too early for snarkiness, miss.”  
  
  
“Mrs,” Tara corrected with a smile, “Now are we going to enjoy the sunrise or not?”  
  
  
“We are,” Willow confirmed, kneeling down on the grass to make sure it was dry, then sitting and looking over her shoulder at her wife, “And you’re going to hold me.”  
  
  
Tara understood the request and sat down behind the redhead so Willow was sitting between her legs.   
  
  
She moved to rest her chin on the smaller girl’s shoulder and they sat in silence, watching the yellow and red hues from the rising sun cast a bright glow over the calm waters in front of them.  
  
  
Willow was about to comment about just how beautiful the sight was when she heard Tara’s soft voice start to sing in her ear.  
  
  
 _Sunrise,  
Sunrise ,  
Looks like morning in your eyes,   
But the clock's held 9:15 for hours._  
  
  
Willow relaxed her body completely back into her wife’s and felt two strong arms settle around her stomach as Tara’s melodic crooning continued.  
  
  
 _Sunrise,  
Sunrise,   
Couldn't tempt us if it tried.   
‘Cause the afternoon's already come and gone._  
  
  
Willow was familiar with the song Tara was singing, Norah Jones’ [Sunrise](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7pEg3KXNcs) but hadn’t heard her wife sing it before. She instantly decided Tara’s version was a thousand times better than the original artist’s could ever hope to be.  
  
  
 _And I said,  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...   
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...  
Do you?_  
  
  
The sun was half-way over the furthest hills by this stage, the red hue becoming a lighter orange as it began to highlight the deep green of the grass the hills were covered in.  
  
  
 _Surprise,  
Surprise,  
Couldn't find it in your eyes,   
But I'm sure it's written all over my face._   
  
  
The blue of the sky started to gradually turn from its dark indigo to the soft blue it would hold for the day as the sun rose even further to its rightful place looking out upon the world.  
  
  
 _Surprise,  
Surprise,   
Never something I could hide,   
When I see we made it through another day._  
  
  
Willow was aware of soft birdsong coming from the trees and shrubbery surrounding them, the quiet chirping almost acting as backing vocals to Tara’s singing, as if the avian creatures wanted to be part of a harmonious duet.  
  
  
 _Then I say,  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...  
Do you?_  
  
  
Tara moved and closed her hand over one of Willow’s, lifting their conjoined hands up and pointing at the sun, using their fingers to trace the outline of the burning sphere.   
  
  
Willow let her hand be led before turning Tara’s hand over in hers, taking the control of her fingers as she traced the outline of a heart in front of them.  
  
  
Tara’s answering smile could be heard through her singing.  
  
  
 _And now the night,  
Will throw its cover down,   
Oooh, on me again...   
Oooh, and if I'm right,   
It's the only way to bring me back._  
  
  
Tara settled her hands back on her wife’s stomach and gave an affectionate squeeze as the words continued to fall from her mouth sweetly.  
  
  
 _Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh...  
Do you?_  
  
  
Willow watched the sun’s vibrant glow illuminate their entire surroundings as it finished its ascent into the sky.   
  
  
Tara’s soft voice still rang quietly in her ear, only loud enough that she could hear, making her feel like they were quite literally the only two people in the world.   
  
  
She didn’t think life could be any more perfect than it was in that moment.  
  
  
 _Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh  
Hooo, hooo, hooo, oooh   
Do you?_  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Willow pulled the car up along the street outside of the house Ira and Michelle had resided in for the better part of the past 5 years and turned the engine off.   
  
  
After watching the sunrise that morning, the girls had returned to the cabin and spent the morning cuddling in bed, getting all the rest they could before they knew they’d have to return to their normal, somewhat-chaotic lives.   
  
  
After a leisurely lunch, they had checked out and started the drive home, arriving just as it began to get dark.  
  
  
Willow smiled over at her wife.  
  
  
“Good weekend?”  
  
  
Tara reached across the car and took one of Willow’s hands, bringing it up to her mouth and kissing her knuckles.  
  
  
“Best weekend.”  
  
  
Willow just smiled in agreement before nodding towards the house.  
  
  
“Let’s go get our boy.”  
  
  
They both exited the car and walked towards the house, ringing the doorbell when they got there. The sound of excited, loud footsteps could be heard for a few moments before the door swung open and a very excited little boy jumped into his redheaded mother’s arms.  
  
  
“Momma!”  
  
  
“Hey, little man,” Willow greeted warmly, squeezing her son tight, “I missed you.”  
  
  
Tara watched JJ bounce up and down in Willow’s arms and playfully bumped her shoulder against her wife’s.  
  
  
“Hey, stop hogging all the hugs.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and turned to hand JJ over. The boy eagerly clung to his other mother for several moments before kicking his way down to the ground and grabbing Tara’s hand, pulling her further into the house.  
  
  
“Mommy, come see, come see!”  
  
  
Willow watched Tara be dragged somewhere up the stairs just as Ira appeared at the doorway with a small smile on his face.  
  
  
“I normally wouldn’t let him answer the door if I wasn’t with him, but I saw your car pull up and he was very excited to see you.”  
  
  
“It’s fine,” Willow replied with a smile and embraced her father warmly for a second, “Thank you so much for taking care of him for the weekend. He wasn’t any trouble, was he?”  
  
  
“Not an ounce,” Michelle’s voice came from the foyer and she stood beside Ira a second later, “Sorry, I was just folding some laundry.”  
  
  
“Hi Michelle,” Willow greeted with a wave, “I was just saying thank you so much for taking care of him. I’m sure Tara would say it too but she’s been dragged off somewhere.”  
  
  
“We got his firefighter costume for Halloween yesterday,” Ira explained, “It took quite a lot of convincing to make him take it off to go to sleep last night. Young Alex was quite pleased his police officer costume as well, particularly the badge it came with.”  
  
  
“Oh, wow, thank you, Dad,” Willow replied, fishing her wallet from her pocket, “How much was the–”  
  
  
Ira put his hand on his daughter’s hand and shook his head.  
  
  
“On us,” he said firmly, then when Willow looked like she was going to argue, continued, “I told you, my client’s son owns the store. We got a great discount.”  
  
  
Willow was stopped from further argument as Tar and JJ appeared again, JJ holding a large red costume in his hands while Tara had a small Toy Story character-adorned backpack thrown over her shoulder.  
  
  
“Look, Momma, my Halloween costume!” JJ gushed excitedly, “But I can’t wear it ‘til Halloween ‘cause Grandpa said if it got dirty I wouldn’t be able to wear it trick or treating!”  
  
  
“Grandpa’s a smart man,” Tara grinned before mouthing ‘thank you’ to her father-in-law.  
  
  
“Did you two have a nice weekend?” Michelle enquired and got two very wide smiles in response.  
  
  
“We had a great weekend,” Willow answered as her hand discreetly slipped into Tara’s, “Thank you.”  
  
  
Michelle smiled back and JJ started tugging on the end of Willow’s pants.  
  
  
“Momma, I’m hungry.”  
  
  
“Alright, whiney,” Willow laughed and smiled again at the older couple, “We better get this guy home. Thanks again, really.”  
  
  
Tara reiterated her wife’s words and JJ went forward to embrace his grandparents before the three started walking towards the car.  
  
  
“Bye Grandma! Bye Grandpa!” JJ called from the car as he was strapped into his booster seat.  
  
  
Ira and Michelle waved from the doorway before closing it and Willow and Tara got into the front seat, Willow turning the engine back on and driving the two blocks to their own house.  
  
  
“Did you have a nice weekend?” Tara asked her son, looking over her shoulder at JJ.  
  
  
JJ nodded enthusiastically.  
  
  
“Alex stayed over and we built a fort! And then we got our costumes and Grandpa got us ice-cream and then Alex had to go home but it was okay ‘cause Grandma made Sloppy Joes and we watched The Lion King! And I knew all the words to Hak...Hak...” he paused for a moment and concentrated as he tried to pronounce his words correctly, “Hakuna Matata and everything!”   
  
  
“Well done,” Tara praised as they pulled into their driveway and all three started removing their seat belts and gathering their bags before walking towards the house, “What would you like for dinner, Jake?”  
  
  
JJ jumped up and down on the balls of his feet, looking away in thought for a moment as Willow opened the door to the house.  
  
  
“Chicken!” JJ decided eventually and Willow reached down to ruffle his hair.  
  
  
“You got it. Will you go unpack your clothes and put anything dirty in the hamper?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and scarpered upstairs, his backpack over his shoulder and his firefighter costume held reverently in both hands. Willow turned to her wife and smiled sweetly.  
  
  
“Will _you_ go unpack the clothes and put anything dirty in the hamper?”  
  
  
Tara laughed and nodded.  
  
  
“Of course. Are you taking dinner duty?”  
  
  
Willow smiled and bit the side of her lip in thought.  
  
  
“Chicken, mashed potatoes, some veggies? Does that sound good?”  
  
  
“Delicious,” Tara replied, taking the weekend bag they’d brought to the cabin in her hand and leaning forwards to place a gentle kiss on her wife’s lips, “I love you.”  
  
  
Willow beamed and responded in kind before making her way towards the kitchen.   
  
  
Tara unpacked their clothes for the weekend before helping JJ to make sure he had everything ready for school the next day and getting a load of laundry on.   
  
  
They all ate dinner together, JJ happily chatting about how excited he was for Halloween and Willow and Tara held hands a top the table during the entire meal.  
  
  
Willow offered to wash-up when they finished and hummed the tune of the song Tara had sung to her earlier, happily reliving the memory as she did so.   
  
  
When the last plate had been stacked, she walked into the living room and leant against the doorway, watching JJ laugh uncontrollably as Tara chased him around the room.  
  
  
In that moment, she realised she was wrong earlier.   
  
  
Watching her wife and son playing, being happy was better than any sunrise.   
  
  
They were what made her life perfect.


	9. Chapter 9

  
  
“Ready for tomorrow?”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded in response as Willow climbed into bed beside her.   
  
  
“Definitely,” she said, referring to the appointment they had the following morning before work with the nurse at the clinic to start her hormone therapy, “How about you? You’re not still feeling...?”  
  
  
“Hopelessly insecure?” Willow asked jokingly, settling her head on the pillow, “No. Well, a little. But I know we’re going to do everything we can to make our baby and we’re going to do it together and if things don’t work out, well...I’m still the happiest woman in the world.”   
  
  
Tara ran her hand up her wife’s arm to her face and let her thumb pebble over the skin of the redhead’s lips.   
  
  
“C’mere.”  
  
  
They kissed, softly and lovingly for several minutes, just enjoying their closeness and physical connection until they naturally pulled apart and smiled at each other.   
  
  
“Hey, Tare?” Willow piped up after a moment, a slightly uncomfortable look on her face, “Um, not exactly something I ever wanted to discuss in our marital bed but...did you think at all about the whole...sperm donation thing? Whether you wanted to look through the profiles or use the matching service?”   
  
  
Tara smiled softly.   
  
  
“I think the matching service is a great idea. Really, that...area of things is just technical for me; this is going to be our baby no matter what. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to make him or her as much like the both of us as we can.”   
  
  
Willow visibly exhaled.   
  
  
“Okay. Good. I was thinking exactly that, too. This may seem...juvenile or something but I really didn’t want to look through all these profiles thinking ‘oh, so this is whose DNA is going inside my body’.”   
  
  
Tara shuffled closer to her wife and looked at her reassuringly.   
  
  
“My DNA is going inside your body. Which means my DNA with your DNA. Ours. Together.”   
  
  
Willow nodded, looking more confident than she had a moment before and gave an easy smile.   
  
  
“We should sleep. We’re gonna start making our baby tomorrow.”   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Hi, Willow and Tara, right?”   
  
  
“Yes. I’m Willow, this is Tara,” Willow replied, standing up and extending her hand to the young, curly-haired, brunette woman that had just walked into the small examination room she and Tara had been sitting in, “Are you the nurse?”   
  
  
“Maya,” the woman nodded with a smile and shook both women’s hands before sitting down opposite them, “Dr. Wells has filled me in on everything and will be doing most of your appointments herself, but I’m here to get the medication therapy started. Tara, it’s your eggs we’re looking to harvest, correct?”   
  
  
“That’s right,” Tara confirmed with a smile.   
  
  
Maya rested her hands on her knees.   
  
  
“Okay. So, Tara, you know that you’re going to be taking daily injections for the next two weeks or so. For the first 8 days it will be just the Lupron, then after that we’ll add in the medication that makes your eggs develop. Today, I’m going to show you how you administer the injections at home and then we need to make an appointment next week for your first bloods and ultrasound. Oh, and Dr. Wells asked me to see if you’d made any decisions about sperm donation?”   
  
  
“We want to use the matching service,” Willow replied, feeling at ease by the nurse’s friendly demeanour.   
  
  
Maya turned around so she was facing the computer that was in the room and starting typing things on it.   
  
  
“Excellent. The computer will draw up all the best matches by percentage and then you can choose which one–”   
  
  
“Um, we’re happy to just take the one with the highest percentage,” Willow cut the nurse off quietly, looking over at Tara for confirmation, who nodded with a smile, “Could you note that in our file?”   
  
  
“Of course,” Maya nodded, typing again before turning back to the couple, “That’s all noted and we’ll order the sperm from our sister clinic to combine with your eggs when the time comes. Now, for your medication therapy. Dr. Wells has written up a prescription here for a two-week supply of the Lupron and the kit comes with the needles you’ll need to administer it with; they should give you a proper disposal unit as well that you can bring back to them when you’re finished with the therapy. Willow, will you be the one giving Tara her injections?”   
  
  
“Yes,” Willow answered, holding Tara’s hand between both of hers.   
  
  
Maya stood up and walked across the room, rooting through different boxes before returning to the couple and placing the items in her hands on the desk near her.   
  
  
“Okay, there are different areas where you administer the medication,” she said, placing a hand on either of her thighs, “The fronts of your thighs. This area of your stomach, leaving a space around the navel or the top corners of either cheek on your rear. You can also do it in either arm, but the injection can cause a ‘dead’ feeling that could make it difficult to lift things, especially since you’ll be getting them daily, so we recommend not doing it there. Other patients have said that the backside is the least painful place.”   
  
  
The couple nodded along in understanding as Maya spoke and the nurse picked up the items beside her, a small vial with a colourless liquid inside and a small, plastic container. She peeled back the plastic and took a needle from it, holding both items up, then handing them to Willow.   
  
  
“Okay, now Willow, this is just a saline solution, but the Lupron will look the exact same. I’m going to walk you through exactly how to do this. First, you need to draw 0.2cc of air into syringe. You see the small numbers on the side?”   
  
  
Willow nodded and pulled the end of the syringe of the needle until it was in line with the 0.2 mark.   
  
  
“Perfect,” Maya smiled, before continuing, “Now, put the needle in the bottle push out the air. That’s it, exactly. Now draw up the same amount of liquid, 0.2cc again.”   
  
  
Willow drew the correct amount of liquid into the needle and held it up.   
  
  
“This much?”   
  
  
“Just the right amount,” Maya nodded, “Then you’ll just need to wipe Tara’s skin with an alcohol wipe to sterilise the area and–”   
  
  
“Jab her in the ass,” Willow giggled before blushing.   
  
  
Maya just laughed though.   
  
  
“Pretty much. You’ll need to keep the Lupron in the refrigerator, probably in the very back so it’s not accidentally knocked. And definitely make sure you put the contaminated needles in the unit you’ll get, and keep it up high. You have a young son, right?”   
  
  
“Yes,” Tara nodded, “We definitely wouldn’t want him to accidentally go near any needles.”   
  
  
Maya took the needle and vial back from Willow, before turning her attention to Tara.   
  
  
“Tara, you should start to have some vaginal bleeding within a few days of starting these injections. There’s also some possible side effects; headaches, loss of libido, some aches and pains or hot flashes. If anything seems too serious, call us straight away. Now, you need to make an appointment to come back in to see Dr. Wells next Wednesday, for your bloods and ultrasound, so give yourself at least 45 minutes. Do either of you have any questions?”   
  
  
The couple exchanged a look between them before both shook their head, pretty clear on what exactly they had to do and how to do it.   
  
  
“Great,” Maya smiled, “Well, I’ll you guys go then, I know this is a pre-work appointment, so you’re probably anxious to get there on time. Here’s your prescription, and don’t forget, you can call us or call in at any time and we’ll accommodate you as soon as possible.”   
  
  
Tara took the prescription that was offered to her and both her and Willow stood and thanked Maya before leaving the exam room, making their appointment for the following Wednesday, during their lunch break so they wouldn’t have to take any time off work or arouse any suspicion.   
  
  
As they walked out of the clinic, Willow grabbed her wife’s hand and happily swung it between them.   
  
  
“She was so nice. And Dr. Wells is so nice. I’m pretty sure everyone in that building is just perpetually nice.”   
  
  
Tara gave a small chuckle and squeezed the hand in hers.   
  
  
“We’ve really got the best people helping us extend our family.”   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“I cannot wait to fall into bed,” Tara said sleepily as she stretched her arms behind her head, after changing to the boxers and tank top she was going to sleep in, “I had three separate calls to the hospital today. Three separate sets of parents who were hurting their children to the point of hospitalisation, all on the same day. I don’t care how many years I do this job, I will never understand it.”   
  
  
“That’s ‘cause someone hurting their child isn’t understandable,” Willow replied as she passed her wife, giving her a quick squeeze on her shoulder before taking her pyjamas from the dresser and pulling them only quickly before turning around and grinning slightly when she saw Tara about to get under the covers on th bed, “Um baby...aren’t you forgetting something?”   
  
  
Tara looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened in realisation.   
  
  
“Oh god, how could I forget? Thank god I’m not looking after these myself.”   
  
  
Willow just smiled and walked over to the closet.   
  
  
“Get your booty out, Mrs. Rosenberg-Maclay,” she said as she retrieved the small box they had hid in there with the needles, taking one out with an attached alcohol wipe and then opened the door of the small appliance beside it.   
  
  
Willow, too concerned that JJ would accidentally get a hold of the medication in the refrigerator, had gone out to buy a mini-fridge so they could keep all of their fertility-related equipment in their bedroom and away from their ever-curious son.   
  
  
She filled the needle with the appropriate amount of medicine, as she had been instructed that morning, before returning the vial to the mini-fridge and tucked the box in behind it.   
  
  
“Feel free to hurry, Willow,” Tara’s voice was heard as Willow closed the closet door again, “I feel a little silly with my ass just hanging out like this.”   
  
  
Willow chuckled as she saw Tara bent over the bed, her boxers pulled down to just below her butt.   
  
  
“Lefty or righty?” she asked as she moved to stand behind her wife.   
  
  
“Surprise me,” Tara replied dryly and Willow laughed.   
  
  
“Okay, you ready?” she asked as she ran the alcohol wipe over the skin on the blonde’s left cheek, “Want me to hold your hand?”   
  
  
“I’m okay,” Tara responded before clearing her throat, “But still feeling kind of silly.”   
  
  
Willow put the used wipe on the end of the bed before positioning the needle over her wife’s skin. Tara stayed deathly still as she felt her skin being pierced and the medication being pushed into her before exhaling slowly as the needle was removed and felt Willow gently pull her boxers back up.   
  
  
“That wasn’t so bad,” she said, straightening up, only slightly noticing the dull ache in her rear, “I don’t think I’ll be sleeping on my back tonight though.”   
  
  
Willow gathered all of the used materials in her hand and went to dispose of them in the sealed bucket they had been given by the pharmacist and placed it on top of the closet, away from anything that could possibly knock it over.   
  
  
“We’ll have to get you one of those cushion thingies that people have to sit on when they get haemorrhoids.”   
  
  
Tara paused from where she was about to climb into bed and stared at her wife.   
  
  
“Any chance you had of getting lucky tonight went right out the window by saying that.”   
  
  
Willow sauntered over to the bed and crawled in, waiting as Tara got in beside her and shuffled around until she was comfortable on her side. Willow then threw her arm protectively over her wife’s waist, being careful not to hit against the area of sore flesh near her.   
  
  
“See this?” she asked, placing a small kiss under the taller girl’s ear, “This is me getting extra, extra lucky.”   
  
  
Tara lips quirked upwards into a half-smile.   
  
  
“You’re just being sweet because you know you have to jab me every night for the next two weeks.”   
  
  
“It’s not too sore, is it?” Willow asked, concerned.   
  
  
She really hadn’t enjoyed the process of pricking her wife’s skin, but had tried to remain detached as she was doing it, knowing she wouldn’t have been able to do it at all if she thought about that fact that what she was doing was causing Tara pain, no matter how small or necessary.   
  
  
“Barely a pinch,” Tara replied, seeing a brief look of anguish cross her wife’s features, “And oh so very, very worth it.”   
  
  
Willow seemed placated by that before a grin formed on her face.   
  
  
“Operation baby-making has commenced.”


	10. Chapter 10

  
  
Willow quietly walked down the stairs after getting JJ settled in bed and stretched her back muscles as she did so, looking forward to snuggling on the sofa for the evening.   
  
  
“He finally went to sleep,” she said with a sigh as she started to turn into the living room, “I think he got his hands on some serious sugar at school today or something ‘cause he was just crazy hyp–hey, what’s wrong?!”  
  
  
Willow rushed over to Tara’s side as she saw her wife sitting on the sofa, hunched over and with her head in her hands.  
  
  
“Headache,” Tara replied through gritted teeth.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes widened in alarm as her hand went to the back of her wife’s head, stroking her hair comfortingly.  
  
  
“It’s not a migraine, is it?” she asked in a whisper, “You haven’t had one of those since we lived in Boston. Do I need to take you to hospital?”  
  
  
Tara weakly shook her head between her hands.  
  
  
“No. It’s not that bad. It just hit me from nowhere.”  
  
  
“Oh, baby,” Willow replied soothingly, leaning forwards to place a kiss on the middle of Tara’s forehead.  
  
  
Tara was about to lift her head to offer the redhead a small smile but instead jerked back against the sofa as a as she felt a sudden wave of intense heat going through, feeling like it was emanating from her pores.  
  
  
“Oh my...!”  
  
  
Willow jumped up to sit beside her wife and tried to take her hands but they were quickly slapped away, Tara not able to handle any more warmth being passed into her body.  
  
  
“Tara, what’s wrong?!” Willow asked, her voice full of concern and some hurt, “Baby, you’re scaring me. You’re going bright red! I’m not letting you collapse again from a migraine, Tara, I’m calling an ambulance!”  
  
  
Tara reached out and grabbed Willow’s wrist to stop her from moving and took a few short breaths.  
  
  
“I think...just a hot flash.”  
  
  
“From the injections?” Willow asked gently, moving her hand to the blonde’s clothed knee to give her some comfort without touching her skin, “You only started them yesterday, I didn’t think they’d hit so soon.”  
  
  
“Well they are,” Tara replied curtly, her breathing heavy.  
  
  
“Is the loss of libido thing hitting too or can I take your top off?” Willow replied with a grin that quickly faltered at the look Tara shot her, “Sorry. Bad joke. I–I’d give you a hug but I don’t think you’d appreciate it right now.”  
  
  
Tara brought her hand up to her forehead and started to rub her temples, closing her eyes to stop the bright light in the room making her headache worse.  
  
  
“Could you just get some me ice or something? And some Tylenol?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow’s voice went to Tara’s ears before she felt the smaller girl standing and a quick kiss being placed against her cheek, then moments later seeing the light against the back of her eyelids plunge into darkness as she heard the lightswitch being turned off.  
  
  
It only took a minute for Willow to return and Tara felt something cold and hard, wrapped in a dishcloth being held against her chest in the open part of her plunging blouse and being brought up around her neck and against her cheeks.  
  
  
“Open,” Willow’s soft voice came as Tara felt something being held against her mouth and complied silently, taking the two pills that were placed on her tongue and gratefully swallowing them a moment later with the water her wife offered next.  
  
  
After several minutes of Willow silently holding the cold compress against the blonde’s flushed skin; Tara opened her eyes again, dimly able to make out her wife’s features from the streetlight streaming in through the windows.  
  
  
She covered Willow’s hand and brought the dishcloth from her chest.  
  
  
“That hug would be appreciated now.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and placed the contents of her hands on the coffee table, revealing a bag of peas wrapped in the cloth and turned back to Tara, wrapping her arms around the blonde’s shoulders.  
  
  
Tara gratefully squeezed back and held on for a few long moments before pulling away.  
  
  
“Sorry I was a grouch. It was just a lot all at once.”  
  
  
“Don’t worry,” Willow replied, shaking her head gently, “We’ll get some of those ice gel pack things for you to carry around. That hot flush seemed bad.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small shrug and quirked her lips slightly.  
  
  
“Good practice for menopause.”  
  
  
Willow grinned too.  
  
  
“Or maybe if you ever get pregnant.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and felt the final remnants of her headache lift.  
  
  
“Let’s get this one in you first before we start to think about number three, okay?”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Honey, I’m ho–”  
  
  
Willow didn’t get to finish the sentiment as she found herself suddenly shoved against the shut door she had just walked through and a pair of lips began hungrily devouring her own.  
  
  
Before she could even register what was happening, she felt hands pushing her jacket over her shoulders and her shirt being ripped over her head.  
  
  
“I thought you’d never get home,” Tara spoke throatily as her hands went to the redhead’s chest, slipping under her bra to knead her breasts, “I dropped JJ off at a play date an hour ago. And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since.”  
  
  
Willow moaned as Tara rolled her quickly-hardening nipples between her fingers and tried to reign in her raging desire, wondering if she could be dreaming; Tara had rebuffed any advances she’d tried over the course of the week, sometimes apologetically, sometimes with irrational annoyance, but Willow had resigned herself to the fact that her wife wasn’t likely to want to be intimate while going through the hormone therapy but it seemed now they were making her go to the opposite end of the spectrum.  
  
  
“You’re, um...you haven’t really been in the mood all week...”  
  
  
“I know,” she replied as what could only be described as a mischievous grin fell on her lips, “And I’m very, very sorry. But I’ll make it up to you.”  
  
  
“D-don’t have to m-make up anything,” Willow stammered out with a gulp, “I know the hormones are making you–”  
  
  
Willow was cut off again as Tara removed one hand from her bra and reached up to the redhead’s face, pursing her lips with her fingers before pressing their mouths together almost roughly, forcibly pushing her tongue into her wife’s mouth.  
  
  
She felt her mouth being explored and her tongue being teased as the hand against her breast continued its ministrations until there was a sudden, abrupt stop of all contact.   
  
  
Her eyes flew open, prepared for her hormonally-off-balance wife to tell her she wanted to stop but instead found herself greeted with _that_ smile and _those_ eyes as Tara hooked her fingers into the belt hook of the redhead’s pants and pulled her forwards.  
  
  
“You’re wearing far too many clothes and are much too vertical.”  
  
  
Willow let herself be turned and walked backwards up the stairs, Tara’s smouldering eyes burning into her as the blonde’s hands roaming along the soft curves of her hips. She slipped her fingers beneath the waistband of the redhead’s pants and tugging the fabric of her panties that settled around her hips gently upwards, making the smaller girl moan as the front of the material rubbed against the hard bud that was swelling in need.  
  
  
Despite the fact that they were moving quite quickly, the ascent up the stairs and into their bedroom seemed to Willow like it was taking an age, her breath and eyelids getting heavier and heavier with desire with each passing second until she finally felt the back of her knees hit against their bed.  
  
  
Tara kept a firm hold on her wife’s hips to keep her in place before snapping the button on her pants open, yanking the fabric down her legs and then pushing he back onto the mattress and pulling the pants off completely, discarding them on the floor so the redhead was lying in just her bra and panties.  
  
  
Willow watched with hitched breath as Tara climbed on top of and straddled her, her eyes roaming over the smaller girl’s smooth torso and encased-breasts before she locked eyes with her wife and uttered just one word.  
  
  
“Better.”  
  
  
Willow pushed herself up into a sitting position and wasted no time in capturing the blonde’s lips, kissing her fervently as her hands worked with speedy zest in discarding Tara of her clothes; buttons blindly loosened and fabric cast off, forgotten, to the floor until the redhead found her hands roaming her wife’s body, free of any material barriers.  
  
  
“Off,” Tara mumbled during a half-second kissing break for air, pushing her lover’s bra straps down her shoulders before reaching behind to unsnap the hook.  
  
  
The garment fell between their bodies onto the sheet but quickly got shoved out of the way as the blonde slipped her fingers into the elastic of the redhead’s panties and jerked them down to her knees.  
  
  
Willow pulled away breathlessly from the kiss and, aided by Tara pulling her legs upwards, shuffled her lower half until the panties fell off her ankles.  
  
  
Finally both naked, Willow moved in to resume the kiss but was stopped as the blonde placed a single finger against her lips when she was just an inch away.   
  
  
Her brow crinkled in disappointed confusion but could only gulp as her wife started dragging her finger, agonisingly slowly, down onto her chest and around her breasts, brushing off each of her nipples enough to send shivers down her spine and further onto her stomach, tracing the outline of her toned muscles before grazing along the fine hairs of her mound, then letting her hand fall off to the side.  
  
  
Willow almost groaned in frustration as her body tingled with need but one look into Tara’s twinkling eyes made her swallow the groan in a second, gasping quietly instead when the blonde pushed her back against the mattress with her body so they were flushed against each other and pressed their lips together in barely-there kiss before moving them down and following the same path her finger had just moments before.  
  
  
Moans of varying degrees of intensity escaped the redhead’s mouth as her flushed skin was caressed by Tara’s lips, her tongue jutting out and swirling around the hardening peaks of the smaller girl’s hardening peaks and then moving lower to dip into her bellybutton.  
  
  
Willow tensed her body as she felt kisses move down to her mound, sure Tara would move her mouth away the same way she had her hand, which made the moment when the blonde’s tongue suddenly sank into her waiting, wet folds all the more sweeter in surprise.   
  
  
“Oh my...ohhhhh....!”  
  
  
Tara lifted her hands to either side of her wife’s thighs and moaned in appreciation of the flavour hitting her tastebuds, feeling Willow shiver in response. She worked her lips and tongue against the redhead’s heated flesh, teasing her by moving tantalisingly close to her clit before moving away again and lapping at her entrance but never giving her the satisfaction of pushing inside.  
  
  
Willow had her hand entwined firmly in the blonde’s hair as she tried in vain to get her mouth where she wanted it. When she felt like she had taken all she could without exploding, she decided it was time to turn the tables and took her fingers from Tara’s hair, using both hands to pull her up by the shoulders.  
  
  
She let out a shaky moan as she saw Tara’s mouth glistening with her juices and crushed their lips together as she took complete control by flipping her wife onto her back and reaching down her body, between her lips and thrusting two fingers inside her without any preamble.  
  
  
Tara unwittingly broke the kiss as her back arched and head through back against the pillows; her body more than ready for any and all of Willow but her mind shocked at the sudden change.  
  
  
“Fuck!” she groaned as her hips instinctively thrust upwards, the redhead’s fingers moving in and out of her speedily, “Fuck.”  
  
  
After a moment her eyes opened to see Willow smirking down at her. She responded in kind as one side of her lips curved upwards and her own hand found its way to her wife’s core, slipping inside in one fluid movement, moaning as tight heat surrounded her and hearing a throaty groan fall down to her ears.  
  
  
They started a hard and fast pace inside each other, fingers stretching and delving deeply as they communicated with wordless moans and body movements. Their hips grinded against one another, getting faster and faster as they both became closer and closer to their peaks until Willow’s head suddenly snapped back and a shrill cry left her lips.  
  
  
“Tarrraaa!”  
  
  
Tara felt a heated explosion around her fingers and a gush of juices fall down her wrist, making her own body shiver and shake silently in response, her fluttering eyelids capturing images of Willow’s face contorted in pleasure which only served to prolong every jolt of ecstasy that rushed through her until the redhead collapsed on top of her, their sweaty skin sliding against each other.  
  
  
After a minute or two of gasping breaths and trembling limbs, Willow turned her head into Tara’s chest and began placing gentle kisses along her collarbone.  
  
  
“God. Wow,” she mumbled, her voice heavy and satisfied, “So worth the wait.”  
  
  
Tara glanced down and watched her wife kiss her jutting-out bones, bringing a hand up to stroke the back of her hair.  
  
  
“I’m sorry, honey. I’ve been kind of all over the place this week.”  
  
  
“Don’t apologise,” Willow replied, shuffling her body the few inches upwards so they were face to face, “I didn’t mean it like that.”  
  
  
Tara lifted her head and placed a kiss against the redhead’s forehead before settling back against the pillows.  
  
  
“I’m not trying to be grouch-y Tara. Or withhold sex from you.”  
  
  
“I know that, baby,” Willow reassured, “You’re not.”  
  
  
“I just haven’t been feeling very sexy with the hot flashes and headaches,” Tara replied before giving a small smile, “Until today anyway. Whole other kind of hot flash.”  
  
  
Willow smiled back.  
  
  
“It’s, it’s like PMS,” she said and saw Tara shrug and give a nod of agreement, before the redhead continued, “Which, you know, you never really get. I’ve never had to deal with that. So, you know, if you add it all up...”  
  
  
Tara looked at her wife with a mixture of confusion and amusement and waited for her to continue, which she did, looking off in thought.  
  
  
“Let’s see...So, you’ve always been regular, so that’s 365 divided by 28, which is basically 13. And let’s assume that for every period, you had 7 days of PMS. That’s 7 by 13 which is 91 days of PMS a year. 91 by 10 for the first 10 years we were together is 910 plus the extra 8 months since our anniversary makes it...966 days of Tara-PMS I am owed. Which, even if we say that these drugs are...10 times more potent than PMS, then that’s still only...140 days. Which is only 14.5% of what I technically should have endured. The way I see it, I’m still getting off super lucky.”  
  
  
Tara blinked a couple of times before shaking her head slightly.  
  
  
“Only you would see 140 days of PMS crammed into two weeks as ‘lucky’. Or that math was good pillow talk.”  
  
  
“Hey, math is sexy,” Willow protested, before smiling apologetically, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trivialise how hard it must be with all those hormones pumping around.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head again and leaned up to place a gentle kiss on the smaller girl’s lips.  
  
  
“You didn’t,” she replied before giving a wry grin, “Anyway, I’m the one who’s getting off super lucky. I only have a few weeks of this. You’ll have nine months.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and gave a wide smile.  
  
  
“You better remember how nice I was during this when I’m yelling for pickles at 2am. With mustard. And ice-cream.”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes and chuckled silently before opening them again and moving her arms around her wife’s back in a hug.  
  
  
“I’ll be here no matter what random foods you decide to put together.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Willow, Tara, come in.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled at the couple from the doorway of her exam room and gestured them forwards.  
  
  
Willow and Tara walked into the examination room and took the seats opposite where Dr. Wells had sat down.  
  
  
“So, I’ve had no phone calls, can I presume the Lupron treatment is going well? No issues with the injections?”  
  
  
“No issues,” Willow replied happily, “We have a routine now; brush our teeth, wash our faces, jab Tara in the butt and snuggle in bed.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells let out a low laugh.  
  
  
“Well, that’s great. And Tara, have you had any side effects?”  
  
  
“One or two,” Willow spoke up first and Tara cast her a momentarily side-long glance before speaking.  
  
  
“Just what I was told to expect. But nothing terrible. Like Willow says, we have a routine.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells seemed satisfied at that and smiled.  
  
  
“Excellent. Well, I won’t waste any time, I know you must both be on your lunch break. Tara, I’ll just draw some blood and then we can move onto the ultrasound. Do you remember which arm I took your blood from last time?”  
  
  
“I think my left,” Tara answered, holding up her left arm in indication.  
  
  
“Okay, let’s go from the right this time,” Dr. Wells responded, gathering the needle and vials she needed and sitting on Tara’s right side, “You’re probably going to feel like a pin cushion over the next couple of weeks.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“It’s okay. I don’t mind needles.”  
  
  
“Unless Xander or Jesse ask,” Willow piped up jokingly from beside her wife, “They’re gonna we wondering why I’m going out for lunch instead of just eating at my desk like I normally do, so I’m staying with the ‘you-have-a-doctor’s-appointment-and-need-me-to-hold-your-hand-while-you-get-a-needle’ shtick.”  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
“They won’t find it suspicious that I need to go to a doctor’s appointment every two days? They’re FBI agents, Willow.”  
  
  
“I’ll just tell them it’s about something girly and they won’t ask any more,” Willow replied with a reassuring smile, “They may be FBI agents, but they’re still men.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small laugh and didn’t even notice as Dr. Wells drew her blood and put a band-aid in the crook of her elbow as she withdrew the needle.  
  
  
“You’ve got great veins, Tara,” Dr. Wells said as she put the vials of blood on her desk.  
  
  
“Um, thank you?” Tara replied, unsure what the correct response was to that ‘compliment’.  
  
  
Dr. Wells just smiled and stood up.  
  
  
“If you could climb onto my examination table there, Tara, I need to perform a transvaginal ultrasound to check on your ovaries. If you could just remove your pants and underwear and then cover yourself with the blanket. I’ll be back in one moment.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells left the room while Tara walked over to the examination table and started and started removing the lower portion of her clothing.  
  
  
“I’m very unhappy that another woman is about to come in the room when you have absolutely nothing on below the belt,” Willow quipped, playing with the ends of her fingers nervously, “Can I, um...could I hold your hand?”  
  
  
Tara climbed onto the table and covered her exposed parts with the blanket provided before holding her hand out towards the redhead.  
  
  
“Now there’s a question you never have to ask.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and lifted her chair over to beside the exam table, sitting near her wife’s head and clasping her hand between both of her own.  
  
  
“I love you for doing this,” she said quietly.  
  
  
“Me?” Tara asked with a laugh, “You’re going to have to do all the hard stuff.”  
  
  
Willow just smiled again and moved forwards to place a lingering kiss on her wife’s temple. Dr. Wells returned in that moment, wheeling a machine with a monitor on top and a basket beneath filled with various pieces of medical equipment.  
  
  
“All ready?” Dr. Wells asked with a smile as she wheeled the machine over to the exam table and took a seat between Tara’s legs, snapping plastic gloves over her hands, “Could you place your feet in the stirrups and shuffle down just a little please, Tara?”  
  
  
Tara followed the doctor’s orders, not as uncomfortable in the position as she could have been; having attended Dr. Wells for the past 5 years meant she’d been exposed in front of her before.  
  
  
“Okay,” Dr. Wells continued, pressing buttons around the screen to turn it on and producing a large, white, cylindrical probe from the basket beneath, “I need to insert this into your vagina so I can inspect your ovaries and make sure everything is coming along as it should so we can start you on the follicle-stimulating hormones. It may be a little cold, but if it hurts at all, let me know and I’ll stop, okay. It’ll be easier if you relax as best you can.”  
  
  
Tara cleared her throat and took a few deep breaths to try and relax her inner muscles. Willow kept her gaze locked on her wife’s face, not wanting to watch the doctor insert anything to an area of Tara she claimed solely as her own, medical procedure or not.  
  
  
“You okay, baby?” she asked lovingly when she saw the blonde wince slightly, presuming the doctor had started the procedure.  
  
  
“Fine,” Tara answered through an exhaled breath before smiling at her wife and lowering her voice to a somewhat-embarrassed whisper, “It’s just...I’m not quite used to...it not being you.”  
  
  
Willow brought the hand between hers and kissed her palm.  
  
  
“You better never be used to it not being me.”  
  
  
Tara laughed quietly, careful not to shift her body at all and pursed her lips to blow a kiss towards the redhead.  
  
  
Dr. Wells kindly tuned out the conversation happening between the couple, focusing solely on the screen as the images being conveyed from the probe played out in front of her, letting her see and examine all of Tara’s reproductive organs.   
  
  
It only took a few minutes for her to be confident in her findings before she gently slipped the probe from Tara and wiped the lubricant she’d applied to it, before placing it on a metal tray beneath the machine for sterilisation.  
  
  
“Everything’s perfect in there,” she smiled as she slipped her gloves off, “Your ovaries are definitely ready for us to start the new hormone therapy. You can get dressed again, Tara, I’m just going to go return the machine.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells wheeled the machine back out of the room and Tara extracted herself from the stirrups, sitting up. She went to grab her pants and panties from where they’d been lying near her on top of a set of drawers, but they weren’t there. She looked around for a moment before noticing the cheeky grin on her wife’s face and the fact that she was very obviously hiding something behind her back.  
  
  
“Really? You stole my clothes?”  
  
  
“I didn’t get a proper look when you were changing,” Willow grinned, “It’s a law that anytime your pants come off, I get a full and proper period of time for the appropriate gawking required.”  
  
  
Tara held back an answering grin and held the blanket up, spreading her legs just wide enough to give the redhead a tantalizing view that Willow, though having teased about, really hadn’t been expecting before the taller girl closed her legs again.  
  
  
“Now give them back before the doctor comes in. Or have you decided you’re happy with another woman seeing me naked now?”  
  
  
That last sentence snapped Willow from the reverie she’d started to get lost in and she quickly thrust Tara’s clothes into her hands.  
  
  
“Quickly, Tara, quickly!”  
  
  
Tara chuckled at her wife’s swiftly-changed demeanour and quickly, as instructed, pulled her underwear and pants on. Willow took her hand when she was done and dragged the chair back to its original place and both women sat down as the doctor returned and sat opposite them.  
  
  
“Okay, so like I said, everything looks good for us to ahead with the next stage,” she said with a smile, “And we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next little while. I’ll need you to come in again on Friday, and then Monday and then Wednesday of next week as well, you’ll have to gets bloods and ultrasounds each appointment, like this one. I’ll be able to tell you next Wednesday whether we need to go a little longer with the hormone treatment or whether we can schedule the egg retrieval.”  
  
  
“So we just continue with our routine like we are?” Willow asked, “But with the FSH injections as well?”  
  
  
Willow had stuck to her promise of not over-researching everything, without her laptop even needing to be ‘confiscated’, though Tara had never had any intention of doing that anyway, it was Willow’s possession after all. The redhead did, however, still remember all she had read, filtering it in her mind to purely the medicine and not the overwhelming amount of unsuccessful stories she had read, but wanted to make sure she had everything correct in her head moving forward.  
  
  
“That’s right,” Dr. Wells nodded as she typed something into her computer, the sound of the printer whirring a moment later ringing throughout the room. The doctor pulled the piece of paper from the machine and handed it over the desk, “There’s your prescription, for one week. If we need to keep going, I’ll give you another one. So, you’ll come back Friday, that’s the...31st. Oh, Halloween. Have you any plans?”  
  
  
“Our friend’s little boy is staying the night,” Willow answered with a fond smile, “We’re taking him and JJ trick or treating and then they want to watch scary movies. Of course, scary for them is Ghostbusters and The Addams Family.”  
  
  
“Yes, 5 is a little young for The Exorcist or similar,” Dr. Wells replied jokingly before a curious look crossed her features, “Are you two dressing up?”  
  
  
Willow just got a small, secretive smile on her face.  
  
  
“Well...it is Halloween.”


	11. Chapter 11

  
“Okay, the boys are getting ready,” Tara said as she walked into hers and Willow’s bedroom, sighing when she say her wife standing in front of the mirror at their vanity table, a tub of some green substance in hand, “Are we really doing this?”  
  
  
“We promised Jake we’d dress up,” Willow answered as she continued to cover her face with the green face-paint in her hand, “Remember?”  
  
  
Tara vaguely recollected the conversation where their son had said it would be ‘super, super, extra cool’ if they dressed up with himself and Alex for when they went trick or treating, and Willow's gleeful and enthusiastic agreement, but it had been a number of weeks ago and she'd been more focused on the hormone therapy since until Dr. Wells had brought in up in their appointment and she'd suddenly become aware of how all-out her wife was going.   
  
  
She sighed as she walked over to where their costumes were hanging on the doorknob of their closet and sighed.  
  
  
“But witches? The pointy hat kind?”   
  
  
“Well, yeah,” Willow replied, “We tried on the in-plain-sight thing in that short film in college. This seemed more authentic. Plus we have brooms!”  
  
  
Tara looked towards her wife quizzically.   
  
  
“For extra sweeping?”   
  
  
Willow gaped.   
  
  
“For flying, Tara!” she replied, exasperated, before checking herself in the mirror and smiling satisfactorily, then pulling the chair out from beneath the table and tapping it lightly, “C’mere, I’ll do your make-up.”   
  
  
Tara walked over to the table and sat down, though Willow noticed she did so quite gingerly.  
  
  
“Hey, you’re sitting funny. Are you okay?”  
  
  
“I’m fine,” Tara replied reassuringly, “It’s just getting two injections in my butt each night, then getting, you know...probed around the other side...it’s just making me a little tender.”  
  
  
“Oh, baby...” Willow responded, kneeling down between Tara’s legs and cupping her cheek, before getting a somewhat-mischievous smile on her face, “I could give you a massage later.”  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow suggestively, trying not to laugh at the fact that her wife’s face was bright green, keeping her tone low.  
  
  
“An...internal massage?”  
  
  
“Internal...external...” Willow whispered, trailing her hand down the blonde’s chest and stomach before letting it rest on her thigh, “Wherever you want, baby.”  
  
  
“Provided we’re not completely exhausted from dealing with two 5-year-old boys on a sugar and excitement high...” Tara replied with a grin, “Then I am definitely holding you to that.”  
  
  
Willow waggled her eyebrows before giggling softly. She then ran two fingers along the top of the face-paint and held them up to her wife.  
  
  
“Okay, keep your chin up. I need to make sure I don’t miss any spots.”  
  
  
Willow spent the next little while slathering her wife’s face and neck until she was a satisfactory eerie-green. She placed the tub back down and then picked up a small plastic item and went to attach it to Tara’s chin.  
  
  
“What’s that?” Tara asked as she felt some kind of suction cup connect itself with her skin.  
  
  
“A wart,” Willow explained, making sure the fake appendage was securely fastened on before picking up the second one she had bought and looking in the mirror as she placed it on her own chin, “No witch is complete without one.”  
  
  
“That seems very stereotypical,” Tara replied with a grin, “I’m sure if you really were a witch you’d probably be quite offended if you saw someone dressed up like we are. Wasn't that the whole idea behind our film?”  
  
  
Willow sauntered over to where their costumes were hanging and held one up in front of her, tugging at the end of the frilled, black dress.  
  
  
“Nothing that shows off your legs the way this is going to could _ever_ offend me.”  
  
  
Tara blushed slightly and stood up, walking over to the dresser and retrieving something.  
  
  
“Well I’m afraid my legs won’t be on display as much as you might like. It’s almost winter in New York, Willow, I’m wearing tights.”  
  
  
Tara held up said tights and Willow pouted before sighing.  
  
  
“Fine. But I’m not arguing only because I’m concerned about your circulatory system.”  
  
  
“That’s very sweet,” Tara replied in a joking tone as she unbuttoned her pants and let them fall to the floor before dragging her tights up her legs, “We should really head out soon if we want to be home with enough time for the boys to watch their movies and still get to bed at a reasonable hour.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement and handed over the costume in her hand before undressing and getting into her own. The outfits had long sleeves, so they would keep both women warm and Willow decided to copy her wife and put on tights as well.   
  
  
They completed their costumes with knee-high boots; Willow’s red and Tara’s black, as well as the requisite pointed hat.  
  
  
“And now, the pièce de résistance,” Willow declared, rooting through the closet for a moment as she searched for what she was looking for. She had been the one to buy their costumes and had gone a little overboard in the party store, excitement getting the better of her, “Brooms! Told Ya.”  
  
  
Tara let out a low laugh as she saw the redhead pull out two long brooms, the stiff straw endings trailing against the floor.  
  
  
“You really do think of everything, don’t you?”  
  
  
“You’ve been sharing my life, my bed and my heart for the past 10 years, Tara,” Willow replied with a smile, “You should really know this about me. We also have witch names!”  
  
  
Tara looked amused.   
  
  
“Okay...what are our witch names? Didn’t we have ‘witch names’ in our film?”   
  
  
Willow pouted.  
  
  
“No, we had normally names because we weren’t all 'toil and trouble'. This is different. Just play along, okay?”  
  
  
“Okay, okay,” Tara agreed, “Tell me.”  
  
  
“I’m Salix and you’re Stella,” Willow replied proudly before giggling, “I finished up work a few minutes before I could leave yesterday, so I looked up our names in Latin. I couldn’t find Tara, so I just translated ‘star’ since your name means star.”   
  
  
“Resourceful as ever, that’s my...Salix,” Tara grinned, walking across the room and taking her broom, and continuing towards the door, “Come along, enchantress of my heart.”  
  
  
“Yes, Miss Stella,” Willow answered with mirth, following behind her wife as they walked down the hallway towards JJ’s room, where loud shouting could be heard.  
  
  
“Stop in the name of the law!”  
  
  
“Nee naw, nee naw, nee naw!”  
  
  
“The fire truck is coming, the fire truck is coming!”  
  
  
The two women stood in the doorway as they watched JJ and Alex run around each other; JJ wearing the red shirt and pants with a large yellow strip going across them and hard red hat that was his firefighter costume, complete with a red backpack that had a toy hose attached while Alex wore a blue shirt and black pants with a hard black hat, a fake badge hanging from the belt buckle of his pants on one side with fake handcuffs hanging on the other side.  
  
  
“You guys look great!” Willow said from the doorway, smiling at the obvious excitement the two boys were displaying.  
  
  
Alex and JJ stopped in their play and looked towards the doorway.   
  
  
And then both promptly screamed.  
  
  
“Honey, it’s us,” Tara said, quickly thrusting her broom into Willow’s hands and taking her hat off before moving forwards and kneeling in front of the boys, “Just us.”  
  
  
Both boys stayed wide-eyed for a moment because Alex turned to JJ and giggled.  
  
  
“Your moms are witches!”  
  
  
“They’re cool witches!” JJ retorted before looking at Tara excitedly, “Can we go trick or treating now?”  
  
  
“You bet,” Tara smiled in response, “Have you got your buckets?”  
  
  
The boys ran over to JJ’s bed and took the pumpkin-lantern shaped buckets, which they had for their candy, by the black plastic handle and swung them in front of them.  
  
  
“Ready!” they both announced at the same time with cheesy grins on their faces.  
  
  
Tara straightened up with a smile and all four made their way downstairs.  
  
  
“Okay boys, make sure you don’t go any further than one house ahead of us,” Willow instructed as they walked out the front door and towards the street, which was filled with children of all ages and costumes laughing and running around, “And do _not_ talk to anyone you don’t know. And remember to say thank you.”  
  
  
“We will!” they both promised before they ran down the pathway to the house beside them and rang the doorbell.  
  
  
“I swear they’re like twins sometimes,” Willow commented with a fond smile as she took Tara’s hand.  
  
  
“Best buddies,” Tara replied warmly as they stayed at the gateway of the house the boys were getting candy from, letting them have a little bit of independence while still keeping an eye on them, “You’d think the six months age difference would be a lot more obvious at their age.”  
  
  
“Well, Alex is very smart for his age,” Willow responded as she saw the boys start to skip back towards them, “And JJ is very understanding. He gets that from you.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small smile.  
  
  
“You think?”  
  
  
Willow bumped her shoulder against her wife’s.  
  
  
“I know.”  
  
  
They spent the next hour walking through a two-block radius of their own house, greeting and talking to some of their neighbours along the way, but mostly just watching the boys and the other children on the street as they excitedly went from house to house exclaiming ‘trick or treat!’ over and over again.   
  
  
When both boys’ candy buckets had begun to overflow, it was decided it was time to head back to the house. JJ and Alex ran upstairs to change into their pyjamas, before returning to the living room where Willow had Ghostbusters set up and ready for them to watch.   
  
  
They both sat down on the floor, legs crossed beneath them, and giddily watched the screen as they dug into their foraged candy from the evening.  
  
  
“Will you guys be okay on your own for a few minutes?” Willow asked quietly and got two wordless nods in answer.  
  
  
She laughed internally at their focus and made her way upstairs and into the bathroom, where Tara was already standing in front of the mirror, wiping away the face-paint.  
  
  
“Can you hand me one of those, please?” Willow asked, referring to the face wipes the blonde was holding.  
  
  
“Here you are, my sweet,” Tara replied, handing a wipe over, “The other kids had some great costumes out there tonight. Did you see those twins from across the street as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Cat In The Hat? Those blue wigs were quite impressive.”  
  
  
Willow laughed as she pulled her fake wart from her chin and started wiping away her face-paint as well.  
  
  
“You can’t beat the classics. This stuff comes off really easily, it was a good buy.”  
  
  
“And I thank you for it,” Tara replied with a laugh, “The last thing I want to do tonight is spend hours trying to get green gunk off of my face.”  
  
  
Willow threw the wipe in her hand in the trash and took another one, cleaning the last of remnants of green away from her neck and face.  
  
  
“Whaddya think about joining the boys in some comfy jammies and watch Ghostbusters with them? We could probably even steal from candy if we’re sneaky.”  
  
  
Tara laughed again.  
  
  
“Stealing candy from children, have we really reduced ourselves to that? Besides I think we might have some more...adult luxuries around. I may have bought some Belgian truffles earlier. And we, of course, have–”  
  
  
“Wine,” Willow finished with a jovial smile, “I like the way you think.”  
  
  
They both finished removing their make-up and got out of the witches costumes, Willow hanging them in the back of the closet where they wouldn’t get in the way, in case the need for a costume ever came about again.   
  
  
They then both changed into the warm pyjamas that they kept mostly just for cuddling in comfort, as their usual sleeping attire consisted of a tank top and underwear or sweat pants if it was cold.  
  
  
“You get chocolates, I’ll get wine,” Willow instructed as they walked downstairs and into the kitchen.  
  
  
Tara went over to her purse and retrieved the small box of truffles she’d bought on a whim on the way home from work earlier that day and waited as Willow poured two glasses of red wine into circular glasses before they walked into the living room and settled on the sofa; Willow cuddled into her wife’s side, a glass in each of their hands and the now-opened box of chocolates sitting between them.  
  
  
All four stayed relatively silent as they watched the movie, except for the occasional gasp from one of the boys when they were surprised by something in the film. Tara finished her wine as the film was nearing it’s close and contemplated pouring another glass before deciding she was more in the mood to relax with some tea.   
  
  
She went to ask her wife if she’d like a cup as well but just smiled when she saw Willow had fallen asleep beside her.  
  
  
She moved Willow’s head off to the other side and gently extracted herself from the sofa, taking the redhead’s empty wine glass from her hand before it fell and smashed and quietly walked into the kitchen.   
  
  
She put the glasses in the sink and turned the electric kettle on to boil while taking a mug down from the cupboard. She was just about to reach for the tea when she heard a small voice pipe up behind her.  
  
  
“Aunty Tara?”  
  
  
Tara turned and bent down to Alex’s level, smiling at him.  
  
  
“Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?”  
  
  
Alex looked down for a moment before shaking his head.  
  
  
“I don’t feel so good.”  
  
  
“Oh, honey,” Tara comforted, rubbing the boy’s back, “Is it your tum–”  
  
  
She didn’t get a chance to finish as Alex suddenly dropped his head and threw up repeatedly on the floor.  
  
  
“Hey, Tare, are you in he–” Willow cut herself off as she stepped into the kitchen and saw the scene in front of her, “Oh.”  
  
  
“Come here, sweetheart,” Tara said lovingly as she scooped Alex up in her arms, “We’ll go wash you up, okay?”  
  
  
“I’m sorry,” Alex mumbled as he dropped his head into Tara’s neck.  
  
  
“Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Tara comforted before looking over at Willow apologetically, “Could you...?”  
  
  
Willow nodded in understanding that Tara was asking her to clean up and walked further into the room.  
  
  
“Yea, of course,” she said and moved to place a small kiss on the side of Alex’s head, “You’ll feel better.”  
  
  
Willow gave her wife’s hip a quick squeeze before going off to gather things to clean the floor with while Tara carried Alex upstairs and into the bathroom, putting the boy on the floor as she turned the taps in the bath on.  
  
  
“Let’s get you out of those pyjamas,” she said, keeping her tone light as she could see Alex was quite embarrassed, “Just had a little too much candy, huh?”  
  
  
Alex nodded as he helped take his pyjamas off.  
  
  
“That’s okay. It is Halloween, after all,” Tara smiled before turning the taps off and guiding Alex’s hand to the water, “Is this okay? Not too hot or too cold?”  
  
  
“It’s okay,” Alex said quietly, “Will I get in?”  
  
  
Tara nodded and Alex climbed into the tub, sitting down in the warm water. Tara grabbed a washcloth and started gently washing him.  
  
  
“Is the water making your tummy feel better?” she enquired as she rubbed the wash cloth over his stomach in circles.  
  
  
“Yea,” Alex replied and a small smile appeared on his face, “That feels nice.”  
  
  
Tara smiled down at the boy.  
  
  
“Ah, my famous tummy rubs. JJ and Aunty Willow like them too.”  
  
  
Alex giggled and Tara moved the cloth over his back and then along his legs.  
  
  
“Do you feel nice and clean now?” she asked and Alex nodded, “Good. Okay, well how about we brush your teeth to get the icky taste out of your mouth and then get you into some new pyjamas and we can go back downstairs and watch the movie. I think it’s almost time to put The Addams Family on, what do you think?”  
  
  
Alex nodded eagerly.  
  
  
“That’s the one with Cousin It! He has hair everywhere!”  
  
  
“He does,” Tara agreed with a laugh as she lifted Alex from the tub and grabbed a towel to wrap around him, then carried him into JJ’s room and over to his dresser, “Okay, JJ has pj’s with dogs, footballs or oh, these ones have ghosts on them. Would you like those?”  
  
  
Alex again nodded enthusiastically and happily pulled on the pants while Tara buttoned up the shirt.  
  
  
“Now you’re a cool monster fighter,” Tara said, motioning throwing fists with her hands.  
  
  
Alex blushed and looked down before gingerly throwing his arm around Tara’s neck and nestling his head against her shoulder.  
  
  
“I love you, Aunty Tara.”  
  
  
Tara felt her heart burst with emotion and she squeezed the little guy back.  
  
  
“I love you too, Alex. You’re a very sweet boy.”  
  
  
Alex clung to his aunt for a few moments before pulling away shyly.  
  
  
“My mouth feels yucky.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied, standing up and taking Alex’s hand, “Let’s go brush your teeth.”  
  
  
Tara led him back to the bathroom and helped him brush his teeth before bringing him back downstairs and into the living room, where the opening theme of The Addams Family could be heard as the movie started playing on screen. Alex walked over and sat back down beside JJ.  
  
  
“I borrowed some of your jammies,” he said quietly and JJ looked over, then smiled.  
  
  
“They look cool on you!”  
  
  
Alex smiled back before they both started squealing and laughing as an image of Cousin It flashed across the screen. Tara smiled at their interaction before walking towards the kitchen, almost colliding into Willow who was walking out, carrying two mugs.  
  
  
“Whoa,” Willow said, stepping back to avoid the collision, “Sorry, didn’t see you there. I saw you had a mug out, I presumed you were making tea.”  
  
  
“I was,” Tara replied, gratefully taking the mug that was being offered to her, “Alex is feeling better but I think he’s still really embarrassed so maybe don’t bring it up. Especially in front of JJ.”  
  
  
“I figured that,” Willow smiled, “JJ came looking when Alex was gone for a while, I just said he spilled something on his pj’s and had to get changed.”  
  
  
Tara smiled before looking over her wife’s shoulder with apology.  
  
  
“Sorry I left you with the mess.”  
  
  
“It’s fine,” Willow replied with a wave of her hand, “Besides, there was no way I could’ve denied Alex the magic cure of Tara-hugs. I’m even betting he got a tummy rub or two.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife a quirky half-smile and shrugged one shoulder.  
  
  
“They are proven to cure stomach ailments of any variety.”  
  
  
Willow laughed and held her mug between her two hands, then nodded towards the living room.  
  
  
“Shall we go watch Wednesday and Pugsley be their adolescent, cruel selves and hope our children never turn out like that?”   
  
  
It was Tara’s turn to laugh this time as they walked back into the living room and settled back into the cuddling position they’d been in before. Willow felt her wife wrap a warm arm around her shoulder and turned to whisper in her ear.  
  
  
“Hey Tara?”  
  
  
“Yes, beautiful?” Tara whispered back, careful to keep her tone low so as not to disturb the boys.  
  
  
Willow just looked at Tara for a few moments before she placed a small kiss on her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“You really are my star.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Hey Tare.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in the direction of the armchair as she whispered for her wife’s attention. Tara followed the redhead’s eyeline and grinned as she saw Alex and JJ curled up alongside each other on the chair, their eyes closed and breath even as Alex had the tip of his thumb between his lips.  
  
  
“Take a picture,” she whispered back and felt Willow disentangle herself from their embrace and stand up, disappearing from the room momentarily and returning with a sleek black digital camera.  
  
  
The redhead played with the camera for a second to turn off the flash before snapping a few pictures of the adorable two.  
  
  
“They can sleep there,” she commented as she turned the camera off and placed it on the coffee table, “They have plenty of room and it’d be a shame to wake them.”  
  
  
Tara grabbed the blanket that was hanging on the arm of the sofa and stood as well, walking over to the boys and carefully covering them, tucking the blanket into their sides.  
  
  
Alex stirred slightly but didn’t wake up, instead just sucking his thumb for a few seconds before becoming completely still again.  
  
  
“They look even more like twins now,” Tara remarked softly with a smile.  
  
  
“They do,” Willow replied fondly before turning to meet her wife’s gaze and offering her hand, “Upstairs?”  
  
  
Tara nodded slowly and reached across to turn the television off before beginning to lead them out of the room. She moved to turn the lightswitch off their way out but Willow pulled on her hand to stop her.  
  
  
“Leave it on. In case one of them wakes up and aren’t sure where they are.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied, turning to face the smaller girl and walking backwards towards the stairs with a grin, “That wine clearly went to my head.”  
  
  
“Oh yes, a whole glass, I don’t know how you’re even standing,” Willow teased playfully before turning Tara around and wrapping her arms around her waist from behind, “I better help you up the stairs, just in case.”  
  
  
Tara gave a quiet giggle as they half-walked, half-swayed up the stairs and down the hallway, straight to the bathroom.  
  
  
They both brushed their teeth and went about their nightly routine until Willow suddenly threw her arms over the blonde’s neck and placed a gentle kiss against her wife’s lips before giving a somewhat embarrassed smile.  
  
  
“Can I...get the room?.”  
  
  
“Got ya,” Tara replied with a sly wink, kissing the smaller girl again for a moment before backing out of the bathroom, “You know where I’ll be.”  
  
  
She closed the door as she left and made her way to their bedroom, quickly applying some lotion to her arms before going over to lie on the bed and picking up a magazine that was lying on her nightstand and flicked through it until Willow appeared through the doorway, stretching her back out and sighing slightly.  
  
  
“I need to get out of these jammies, I’m overheating here.”  
  
  
Tara held the magazine against her lap and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
  
“Are my hot flashes passing? It’s barely 50° out there.”  
  
  
“Yea, but it’s like an easy-bake oven in here,” Willow replied as she pulled the pyjama bottoms down her legs and let the top follow, “What’s the thermostat at?”  
  
  
“I turned it down when I had a flash the other day,” Tara responded, “I must’ve put it up too high when I put it back.”  
  
  
Willow nodded as she rooted through the drawers of their dresser in just her panties, trying to find a t-shirt to wear.  
  
  
“I’ll fix it tomorrow,” she muttered before her eyes landed on an item in the opened drawer in front of her and she grinned before looking over her shoulder at the blonde, “Close your eyes.”  
  
  
Tara looked puzzled.  
  
  
“Why?”  
  
  
“Close your eyes!” Willow insisted and the blonde complied with a sigh, “Thank you.”  
  
  
Keeping a look over her shoulder to make sure Tara didn’t sneak a peek, she slipping her panties down her legs and replaced them with the pair that had caught her eye, letting them fall snugly around her waist before turning around so she was facing the bed, and Tara, and pushed out her naked chest while placing a hand either side of her hips.  
  
  
“Okay, open.”  
  
  
Tara opened her eyes and burst out laughing as she saw her wife in the classic ‘superhero’ pose, with only the novelty Wonder Woman, golden-rimmed, red-and-blue-with-white-stars-decorated panties that had been bought on a whim on her body.  
  
  
“What?” Willow questioned playfully at the laugh, “Dressing up isn’t just for the kids.”  
  
  
“Oh definitely not,” Tara agreed with a sober grin, before batting her eyelashes, “I’ve always wanted to meet a real, live superhero.”  
  
  
“Well today’s you’re lucky day, ma’am,” Willow replied as she jumped onto the bed and straddled her wife.  
  
  
Tara inhaled slowly as she let her eyes roam up and down the redhead’s lithe form.  
  
  
“Is it true you have super-speed and... super stamina, Wonder Woman?”  
  
  
“All attributes I’m blessed with,” Willow replied with mock-haughtiness before puffing her chest out some more, “I also have my own Wonder Twins, whose perk and bounce have stopped many a villain in their tracks.”   
  
  
“I’m not surprised,” Tara muttered as she openly leered the redhead, “Is that how you catch them in your Lasso of Truth?”  
  
  
Willow waited until the taller girl’s wandering eyes locked with hers before she began speaking again.  
  
  
“I only use The Lasso of Truth when it’s absolutely necessary. That rope is so hard to wield,” she replied with a wry grin before slipping her hands beneath the blonde’s pyjama top, placing them flat on her stomach, “ I have another...weapon at my disposal that I find to be much more... useful in getting what I want.”  
  
  
Tara’s breathing visibly quickened and she let out a sharp gasp as the redhead raked her nails down her torso beneath the fabric of her top, all the while managing to speak in an even tone.  
  
  
“You see, I have the Hands of Desire. All I have to do is place them on bare skin and the person can do nothing but give over to my every touch.”  
  
  
“That sounds about right,” Tara replied as an errant moan escaped her lips and her back arched as she tried to get Willow’s hands higher towards her chest.  
  
  
“Can you feel them working?” Willow asked as her fingertips barely grazed the top of her wife’s breasts, “Pressing into you, turning your blood into molten heat?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Tara croaked out, her voice a quiver.  
  
  
“That’s how it works,” Willow continued, her tone getting lower and lower with each passing word, “They take such control that I can literally get inside the other person. Own them.”  
  
  
Tara nodded and mumbled ‘own me’ a few times as the redhead’s hands inched higher and higher at an agonisingly slow pace until Willow suddenly pulled her hands away, just shy of making contact with her straining nipples, accompanied by an indifferent shrug.  
  
  
“But that’s probably enough of that. I’m not supposed to show my powers to just anyone.”  
  
  
Tara’s head shot up in disbelief and she opened and closed her mouth a few times in shock before she realised the game the redhead was playing and took a few calming breaths , then batted her eyelashes again.  
  
  
“But Wonder Woman...” she protested, adopting a delicate tone, “I’m your biggest fan.”  
  
  
“My biggest fan?” Willow asked, her voice equally inquisitive and alluring.  
  
  
“Oh yes,” Tara replied quickly, her breath still heavy, “I’d do anything for Wonder Woman.”  
  
  
“Anything?” Willow questioned, her eye twinkling, “You know, now that you mention it, I do have something I need some help with. You see, The Wonder Twins have to be checked regularly. To confirm they’re...as effective as ever.”  
  
  
Tara licked her lips and moved to rest her hands on the redhead’s hips.  
  
  
“How does one go about the...checking process?”  
  
  
Willow grinned.  
  
  
“Thoroughly.”  
  
  
She grabbed Tara’s hands and placed them on her breasts, dropping her arms back by her sides as the blonde kneaded her flesh.  
  
  
“Uh huh,” she moaned out audibly, “Yes, just like that.”  
  
  
Tara squeezed and toyed with her lover’s breasts, digging her fingers into the warm skin and running the pads along the puckering flesh surrounding her nipples before finally pinching the tightening buds. Willow threw her head back and moaned as the blonde pulled and grasped at her; the contrast of hard and soft against her wandering hands making shivers shoot down Tara’s wrists and along her spine.  
  
  
“Definitely...effective.”  
  
  
Willow fluttered her heavy-lidded eyes open at Tara and moved her body down so she was lying flush on top of her as she smirked.  
  
  
“I’ll, ah...need proof.”  
  
  
Tara took her hands from where they were compressed against the redhead’s chest between their bodies and reached down to entwine their fingers, taking Willow’s hand and pushing into her pyjama bottoms, along the unobstructed downy hairs of her mound to cover her core before taking her own hand away.  
  
  
“Do you need more?” she asked, her voice coarse as she took Willow’s other hand and brought it under her top, rolling the redhead’s palm along her rock-hard nipple.  
  
  
Willow moved both of her hands in circular motions, feeling Tara’s taut nub get incredibly tighter as wetness seeped from her core to coat her other fingers. She moaned through a shaky exhalation as she moved so their noses were nuzzling as she spoke up in a whisper.  
  
  
“Wanna be my Super Girl?”  
  
  
“I wanna be your only girl,” Tara replied before leaning up to crush their lips together ardently.  
  
  
Willow groaned into the kiss as her hand roughly grabbed the blonde’s breast in response and her fingers sank further into Tara’s wet heat. She pushed her tongue forward into the taller girl’s mouth and swirled it around its twin before pulling away for a quick puff of air.  
  
  
“You are.”  
  
  
“Oh god, I know,” Tara replied in a breathless gasp, pulling Willow’s head back down to her with both hands and kicking her legs in frustration at the clothing barrier still present, “Willow, please.”  
  
  
Their lips met with a zealous passion as both sets of hands worked to rid every piece of material that was getting in their way, Tara’s pyjamas thrown to the floor, forgotten along with the underwear that had started the whole affair, their physical presence not required to continue the fervour stemming between them as Tara rolled the redhead onto her back and moved her lips from her wife’s plumped ones down her chest, placing wet kisses in circles around her breasts and bathing her nipples in wetness.  
  
  
“Tara...” Willow groaned as her back arched into the touch, “Oh baby...”  
  
  
Tara switched sides and brought her hand up to massage the breast she’d just abandoned, rolling the saliva-coated nipple between her fingers as her mouth worked the other until Willow was nothing but a writhing mess beneath her.  
  
  
“Tara...Tara...Oh my...Tara...”  
  
  
The redhead twisted and turned as her body turned to molten mush in the face of the sweeping desire coursing through until she felt ready to explode and grabbed her wife’s cheeks from around her breast, pulling her swiftly up to her mouth and attacking the blonde’s lips with her tongue.  
  
  
Tara moaned as Willow sucked on her bottom lip as she felt the smaller girl’s hands roam up and down her back before settling on her hips and starting an upwards pushing motion. She let her body follow her wife’s hands, moving up on the bed until her she had to hold her palms out flat to keep her steady and her breasts were hovering above the redhead’s face.  
  
  
Willow wasted no time in latching onto her lover’s nipple when she had her in the position she wanted, letting her hands follow the curve of the taller girl’s spine down to her buttocks and back along her back, repeating the pattern as she nipped and sucked, alternating between the blonde’s nipples and letting the melodic sound of Tara’s moans float down to her ears.   
  
  
In the midst of the sensory overload she was experiencing, she didn’t even notice Tara’s hand snaking between their bodies until two fingers were already deep inside her, making her throw her head back and let out a guttural cry loud enough that it would have woken the boys had then been on the same floor.  
  
  
Tara shuffled her body back down and covered Willow’s lips again to swallow the subsequent moans that escaped her as she curled and stretched her fingers inside her lover, using every bit of bodily and intellectual knowledge she had to draw every ounce of pleasure her wife was capable of experiencing.  
  
  
Willow was all too aware of the pleasure coursing through her as continuous ecstasy rushed through her and made every nerve ending in her body stand on end.  
  
  
“Tara...” she groaned between a broken kiss, her mind flashing with each jolt that went through her, “Baby...oh god, so good...I...mmhhh...ohhhh...I need...you...baby...please...help...”  
  
  
Tara made sense of her wife’s almost incoherent mumbles and used her spare hand to take the redhead’s and guide it to her own core, slick with arousal.   
  
  
At the first touch of the warm wetness against her fingertips, Willow’s body finally managed to free itself from the rigidity of overwhelming pleasure and she found the blonde’s clit in less than a second, teasing it from its hood and stroking her thumb back and forth the sensitive tip.  
  
  
“Oh Willow,” Tara moaned as her whole body shook with tingling vibrations, “Inside me...”  
  
  
Willow kept her thumb expertly in place and twisted her hand around so she could delve lower and slip a finger inside. Tara groaned in her ear and the smaller girl quickly added a second and third digit.  
  
  
“Oh yes,” Tara groaned again as she dropped her forehead against the redhead’s shoulder and pumped her hips forwards in response to each of her wife’s thrusts, which propelled her own fingers deeper inside the smaller girl in a continuous cycle of movement and feeling.  
  
  
After several minutes, both women’s hips and fingers moving faster and faster with each passing second, Willow moved her spare hand up to the blonde’s head and gripped her hair as she felt the impending eruption she knew was coming near ready to explode inside her.  
  
  
Tara felt her wife’s nails tighten slowly in her hair until deep, resonating contractions reverberated around her fingers and her own body was engulfed with white-hot pleasure ricocheted through her and her mind filled with a sense of euphoria and elation.  
  
  
Their spent bodies collapsed together in a heap of tangled limbs and heaving chests, not a word spoken between them until quite a while later when Willow piped up in an almost delirious mumble.  
  
  
“Dibs not getting the blanket.”  
  
  
Willow heard her wife let out a small groan before she felt a kicking motion at their feet as Tara attempted to get the blanket up from the end of the bed with as little movement as possible.  
  
  
Eventually the blonde managed to cover them and they began to shuffle into a comfortable snuggling position, during which Tara felt herself lying on something bulky. She reached beneath the covers to find the cause of the uncomfortable bulge and pulled it out, grinning sluggishly when she saw it was the Wonder Woman panties that clearly hadn’t made it to the floor in their earlier tussle to rid each other of their clothing.  
  
  
She threw it over her shoulder to let it join the other discarded garments and moved her rest her cheek on Willow’s shoulder, her arm thrown around the redhead’s waist.  
  
  
“We should get you the headband. You’d be cute.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small chuckle.  
  
  
“So you liked me as Wonder Woman?”  
  
  
Tara sighed contentedly.  
  
  
“Mmhh, yes. Very sexy.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and started playing footsie with the blonde under the covers.  
  
  
“I can be all large with the wonder-ness whenever you want.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head further into the redhead’s neck and placed a kiss below her ear.  
  
  
“You don’t need star-spangled panties to be my Wonder Woman.”


	12. Chapter 12

“Willow, you’re shaking.”  
  
  
Willow took the hand that had been holding Tara’s and put them beneath her so she was sitting on them.  
  
  
“Now, see?” she replied with what she hoped was a reassuring smile, “No shake.”  
  
  
Tara pulled her wife’s arm as best she could from her lying position on the examination table in Dr. Wells’ office and retook her hand.  
  
  
“I don’t care whether you’re shaking, I want to know why,” she said before smiling softly, “I thought you’d be used to these appointments by now. I’m certainly used to acting like a personal blood bank and getting probed on an almost daily basis.”  
  
  
Willow’s lips quirked into a smile at that, but she still looked worried.  
  
  
“It’s just...this is like the start of the real deal appointments, you know? I mean, Dr. Wells is gonna tell us if your eggs are ready. And if they are, then the next time we’re in here, we’re gonna be taking your eggs. And then the next time we’re gonna be putting them in me. Trying to get me pregnant. With our baby. And if this appointment goes badly...then it means all the others could too...and...”  
  
  
“And you’re worrying about things that haven’t and might not even happen,” Tara gently soothed, “Let’s just see how things go today, okay?”  
  
  
Willow took a deep, calming breath.  
  
  
“Okay. Okay. You’re right.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells walked into the room at the moment, wheeling the ultrasound machine behind her like she had for every appointment the couple had attended thus far.  
  
  
“Alright, Tara, you know the drill,” Dr. Wells smiled as she took her seat between Tara’s legs and pulled gloves on, “A little cold and you let me know if it becomes too uncomfortable.”  
  
  
Tara nodded, quite used to the procedure at that stage before turning back to Willow who was staring intently at the still-blank ultrasound screen. She squeezed the redhead’s hand to get her attention.  
  
  
“You’ll get wrinkles if you keep worrying so much.”  
  
  
Willow forced herself to look away as the screen lit up with images of her wife’s internal organs and smiled at the blonde.  
  
  
“Will you still love me?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied lovingly and saw Willow start to look back towards the screen. Wanting to distract her until the doctor had her exam done; she dropped the redhead’s hand and brought it up to her face, forcibly making her look her in the eye again, “So this is all a little uncomfortable. I could use a kiss to distract me.”  
  
  
Willow looked delighted to have some way to contribute, even something small, and dragged her seat forwards just slightly before leaning over the table to gently press her lips against Tara’s. She had no intention of launching a full-scale PDA attack on her wife while in front of the doctor, but was very happy that Tara had asked for a kiss, realising as their lips moved against each other, that she was the one who really needed the distraction.  
  
  
And she felt her love for her wife grow even more that she’d known that too.  
  
  
“Okay, Tara, all done.”  
  
  
Willow’s head shot towards the doctor, who continued speaking before the redhead even had a chance to ask her question.  
  
  
“I count fifteen follicles,” Dr. Wells smiled as she snapped off her gloves, “Which is well within average and a very good sign. As well as that, your hormone levels are exactly where I’d like to see them. I’m confident for us to schedule your egg retrieval for this Friday.”  
  
  
Willow looked completely shocked for a moment before squealing and dropping her head to Tara’s stomach, pulling her t-shirt up just slightly and placing warm, excited kisses all over her skin there.  
  
  
“I knew you could do it, little Tara-babies, I knew it.”  
  
  
Tara, rather than being embarrassed, just stroked her wife’s hair, elated both by the news and Willow’s delight.  
  
  
“So, Friday?” she asked and Dr. Wells just nodded, also smiling at Willow’s reaction.  
  
  
“I’ll schedule you in for a late-morning appointment, but you’ll be given anaesthesia so you’ll need to take the afternoon.”  
  
  
“Whole day,” Willow’s voice piped up as she placed a final kiss on her wife’s stomach and pulled her t-shirt back down, before focusing on Tara, “We’re taking the whole day off. And Monday too, for the embryo transfer. That's Monday, right? Three days later? We can tell Michelle and the guys that we both caught the flu or something and that's why we're not in work. And I’ll take JJ to school and you can sleep in and relax and then I’ll take care of you when the procedure’s done, I’ll bring you home and, and...”  
  
  
“You’ll take care of me,” Tara finished with a smile, having removed her legs from the uncomfortable stirrups but still lying on the table, “I know.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells continued to smile at the interaction between the two and decided it was an appropriate time to give them a moment alone.   
  
  
“Okay, I’m going to return the ultrasound,” she said, standing up, “Then I just need to administer the HCG injection to trigger the release of your eggs.”  
  
  
Tara acknowledged the doctor’s words but didn’t take her attention away from her wife. Dr. Wells left the room and Tara quietly started getting dressed, her and Willow continuously smiling at each other until a loud banging made them both jump.  
  
  
“Sorry,” Dr. Wells said as she walked towards them again, a needle in one hand and vial in the other, “I shouldn’t be kicking the doors closed. Tara, will you roll up your sleeve?”  
  
  
Tara did as requested as Dr. Wells walked up to her and started rubbing her upper arm with an alcohol wipe.  
  
  
“You’ll be happy to know this is the last injection you’ll need for a while,” she said as she prepared the syringe of medication, “Now, the area around where I inject might be a little red and tender for the next few days. If there’s any extreme pain or skin irritation, call me or go to the emergency room, but there really shouldn’t be any problem. Are you ready?”  
  
  
“Go ahead,” Tara smiled.   
  
  
She’d never had a fear of injections but the past little while made her barely notice as the needle pierced her skin, though she felt it when it dug into her muscle. Willow was still beaming from ear-to-ear anyway, so seeing that was distracting her from any pain.  
  
  
“Okay, all done,” Dr. Wells said as she wiped the area she’d injected a final time, then went about disposing of the used needle, “Tara, like I said, we’ll be giving you anaesthesia on Friday, so don’t eat from about midnight the night before. The whole procedure will really only takes a few minutes.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and squeezed her wife’s hand.  
  
  
“We’ll need to monitor you for a few hours after the retrieval,” Dr. Wells continued, “But then you should be fine to go home. I know I’ve gone thought the procedures a lot with you, but it’s important you know exactly what’s going on. Any questions?”  
  
  
Willow looked to Tara who just shook her head softly.  
  
  
“No questions. Now we just have to wait for Friday.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“JJ, honey, it’s wakey time.”  
  
  
Willow softly stroked her son’s hair as she lulled him from slumber, kneeling beside his bed. JJ’s features creased for a moment before his eyes fluttered open. He brought his fists up to rub them before settling his gaze on his mother and smiling.  
  
  
“Morning, Momma.”  
  
  
“Morning, little man,” Willow replied, wrapping her arms around her boy as he sat up in bed, “Did you have a good sleep?”  
  
  
JJ nodded as he rested his head against Willow’s shoulder in the hug before pulling back with wide-eyed excitement.  
  
  
“I dreamt about dinosaurs!”  
  
  
Willow laughed.  
  
  
“I hope they weren’t chasing you.”  
  
  
“Uh uh,” JJ shook his head with giddy excitement, “I was riding them!”  
  
  
Willow laughed again before ruffling her son’s hair.  
  
  
“Well that sounds fun. Listen, buddy, today’s a bit of a special day, okay? Mommy needs some more sleep this morning so we need to be very, very quiet. Can you do that?”  
  
  
JJ nodded quietly before frowning.  
  
  
“Is Mommy okay?”  
  
  
“She’s just fine,” Willow reassured with a smile, “She just needs some extra naps today. Will you get dressed and brush your teeth and I’ll go get you some breakfast?”  
  
  
“Okay,” JJ agreed and started to pull the covers back, “Can I have oatmeal? With raisins?”  
  
  
“You bet,” Willow replied, dropping a kiss on top of her son’s head before standing, “Remember though, quiet as a mouse.”  
  
  
JJ dutifully put his finger against his lips and nodded seriously. Willow smiled at him and gave him a thumbs-up sign before leaving JJ’s room and walking down the hallway. She looked in at Tara and smiled again when she saw her wife was still peacefully sleeping, before carefully shutting the door and making her way downstairs to the kitchen, where she went about making JJ’s oatmeal.  
  
  
She was just mixing in the raisins when JJ appeared through the doorway, holding his shoes in his hand.  
  
  
“I didn’t want to put them on in case they made noise.”  
  
  
“That was very smart. You can put them on now though, Mommy won’t hear them from down here,” Willow said as she poured the oatmeal into a bowl, “Would you like some cinnamon on top?”  
  
  
JJ didn’t respond for a moment as he went about tying the laces on his shoes but then nodded as he climbed onto a stool by the island.  
  
  
“Thank you,” he said as his oatmeal was placed in front of him and eagerly began to dig in.  
  
  
Willow made herself a cup of the caffeine-free herbal tea that she and Tara had switched to since they’d begun the IVF process to minimise their caffeine intake, like the doctor had suggested. It had taken a few cups before Willow had found a liking for it, but now she quite enjoyed the beverage, finding it almost had a natural calming effect on her.  
  
  
She made her own bowl of oatmeal and let herself enjoy that along with the sweet, hot liquid as it warmed her body until she drained the last of her cup and started to make JJ’s lunch. She packed a turkey sandwich, baby carrots and a juice box into her son’s shiny red lunchbox just as JJ stood down off the stool and walked around to put his bowl in the sink.  
  
  
“Are you ready for school?” Willow asked as she glanced down at her watch.  
  
  
“Uh huh,” JJ nodded, taking his lunchbox from his mother’s hands, “We get to use chalk on the playground today!”  
  
  
Willow smiled.  
  
  
“That should be fun.”  
  
  
JJ smiled back and nodded excitedly as they walked into the foyer. He packed his lunchbox away in his backpack before they made their way to the car and started the short journey to the school. Willow hugged her son goodbye and watched him enter the redbrick building safely before driving back to house, going straight upstairs to their bedroom.  
  
  
She knelt beside the bed and took a moment to just watch her peacefully sleeping wife before she reached a hand out to cup Tara’s cheek, stroking the porcelain skin beneath her thumb with the utmost tenderness.  
  
  
She continued the soft motion, wanting to rouse her wife from her slumber as gently as possible, until she saw Tara’s eyelids begin to twitch and then retract fully; shimmering blue eyes hazy for a moment as they focused.  
  
  
“You let me sleep in,” Tara said softly as she registered the fully-clothed attire of her wife, “I told you, you didn’t have to.”  
  
  
“And I told you you’re getting as much rest as possible and taking it easy today,” Willow answered with a smile, “Enjoy it, our roles are gonna be switched for 9 months soon.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly and closed her eyes as the last vestiges of her sleep left her.  
  
  
“Can’t wait. Your every wish will be my command.”  
  
  
Willow laughed.  
  
  
“You’re gonna regret saying that.”  
  
  
“No way,” Tara replied, opening her eyes again and shaking her head into the pillow, “I’ll make you pickle and mustard sandwiches and go out for ice-cream at 2am and be your own, personal massage therapist.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her head shyly for a moment before moving forwards and placing a lingering kiss against her wife’s temple, then pulled back.  
  
  
“We need to get me pregnant first. We’re due at the clinic in about an hour.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied, stretching beneath the covers, “I’ll go have a shower.”  
  
  
“I’ll make sure we have everything ready,” Willow responded with a nod of her head, “I’d make you some tea and breakfast, but you’re not allowed eat. I’m making whatever you want for dinner though. And lots of it.”  
  
  
An easy smile graced Tara’s face.  
  
  
“Sounds great.”  
  
  
“Excellent,” Willow smiled as she stood up, “I’m bringing comfy clothes for you to change in after the procedure, so do you want a loose skirt or some sweatpants?”  
  
  
“What I want,” Tara responded with a wry grin, “Is a good morning kiss.”  
  
  
Willow hunched back down and hovered over her wife.  
  
  
“That I can help with.”  
  
  
She brought their lips together, slowly and lovingly for several long moments before pulling away.  
  
  
“I’d, ah, jump in there beside you and show you just how good a morning it is,” she said with a grin, “But I don’t want to disturb, you know...the area.”  
  
  
She motioned over the blonde’s center over the blanket in indication and Tara laughed.  
  
  
“Okay. I guess that’s my cue to go shower.”  
  
  
“I’ll pack,” Willow repeated with a smile, “Skirt or sweats?”  
  
  
“Sweats,” Tara replied after thinking for a moment.  
  
  
Willow nodded and Tara finally threw the covers from her body and climbed out of the bed, placing a quick kiss on her wife’s lips, then leaving for the bathroom.  
  
  
Willow straightened up and went over to the closet, taking a backpack from inside before going over to the dresser and taking out a pair of sweatpants and a loose-fitting t-shirt of Tara’s. She then followed her wife into the bathroom and knelt down to open the doors of the cabinet beneath the sink, rooting around.  
  
  
“Willow?” Tara’s voice was heard a second later, “Is there any conditioner out there? The bottle in here is empty.”  
  
  
“Oh crap, yea, sorry,” Willow replied, reaching for a new bottle of conditioner, “I used it up this morning and forget to replace it.”  
  
  
She stood and went over to the shower, pulling back the curtain a little and popping her head inside as she handed over the conditioner.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara said with a smile as she took the bottle and turned back under the spray of water.  
  
  
Willow made no effort to move however, transfixed as she watched the tiny droplets of water fall down her wife’s back and over the curve of her buttocks before dropping off of her body.  
  
  
Tara felt eyes burning on her as she ran the conditioner through her locks and looked over her shoulder.  
  
  
“Are you okay?”  
  
  
“Hmm?” Willow asked, her eyes focused on one particular bead of water that was just about to fall into the crevice between the blonde’s cheeks. Her head snapped up after a moment though and she blushed at the amused smile on her wife’s face, “Um...pads. I can’t find pads. Did you move them?”  
  
  
“Why do you need pads?” Tara questioned as she squirted some shower gel into her hands and ran it along her body, before looking back at the redhead, alarmed, “You don’t have your period, do you? If your cycle’s changed we can’t–”  
  
  
“No, no” Willow reassured quickly, “The doctor just said to expect some spotting after the procedure, remember? I’m just gonna pack some for you to wear home.”  
  
  
Tara visibly exhaled a relieved sigh.  
  
  
“Cabinet above the sink. JJ found them and thought it would be funny to stick them all over the mirror so I had to move them higher.”  
  
  
Willow gave an internal giggle; the childish part of her thought sticking pads all over the mirror was kind of funny too, not that she’d ever admit it.  
  
  
“Okay. Thanks.”  
  
  
She reluctantly pulled her gaze away from Tara’s wet and naked form and retrieved a pack of pads from the cabinet above the sink, taking one of the heating pads they had in there to help with cramps as well; Willow having remembered reading that they could help with the initial post-op pain until she could get Tara home and get her a hot water bottle.  
  
  
She brought the items back into their bedroom and packed them in the bag, zipping it up before grabbing a pillow from the bed and tucking it under her arm. She knew Tara would have to lie around for a couple of hours after the procedure and wanted her to be comfortable.  
  
  
She brought everything downstairs and placed them by the door before going into the kitchen to make herself another cup of tea, needing the calming sensation it provided and trying not to think about the magnitude of what was happening that day.  
  
  
They were taking Tara’s eggs. And they were going to fertilize them. So that they could go inside her. And they’d know the next morning, they’d get a phone call to say if the fertilization had been a success and if they could go ahead with the embryo transfer.   
  
  
_Monday. If everything works today...I could have her baby inside me on Monday..._  
  
  
Willow quickly shook off the thought. She knew that hope was a good thing, but she knew she couldn’t bear the heartbreak if she laid all of her hope out and things didn’t work out this time. And she knew they’d be very, very lucky if things worked the first time around anyway.  
  
  
So she opted to take Tara’s advice and not worry about things that hadn’t happened yet. They’d go to the egg retrieval today, and then if the phone call tomorrow said they could continue with the transfer, then they would do that. And then they’d just wait.  
  
  
Two weeks, that’s all they would have to wait to find out if it was a success.   
  
  
Two weeks where they’d try to carry on with their lives as normal as possible, and when the phone call came from the doctor to tell them the outcome, then they would deal with it. One way or the other, rejoice or go about starting the process again, they would deal with it.  
  
  
“Were you going to make tea or just stare at the teabag?”   
  
  
Willow was pulled from her thoughts as she heard her wife’s voice ring throughout the room and looked up with a smile to see her walking, dressed and ready, into the kitchen.  
  
  
“Um, no, I was gonna make a cup,” she said, realising the kettle had boiled quite a while ago and she’d just been looking down into her empty mug in thought, “But, um, it’s probably about time we left. Don’t wanna be late.”  
  
  
Tara walked further into the kitchen and took a travel mug down from one of the cupboards, setting it in front of the redhead before bringing her hands up and giving both of Willow’s shoulders a small squeeze.  
  
  
“Make it in that. Everything’s going to be okay, you know. No matter what.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her head slightly and let the soft comfort of the massaging motion relax her.  
  
  
“Promise?” she asked in a small voice.  
  
  
Tara dropped her lips against the back of her wife’s hair and placed a long, lingering kiss there.  
  
  
“Promise.”  
  
  
Willow exhaled slowly before giving a definitive nod, then went about making her tea in the travel mug.  
  
  
“Okay, well then, let’s go get my little Tara-baby outta you.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her chin onto her wife’s shoulder and moved her arms so that they wrapped around the redhead’s waist.  
  
  
“No matter what stage of...development we’re at, it is always _our_ baby.”  
  
  
Willow smiled as she fastened the lid on her tea.  
  
  
“Yea. I know. I just can’t wait until him or her is growing inside me.”  
  
  
“Well let’s go get started then,” Tara replied, slipping her hand into the redhead’s and pulling her towards the door, “Why do we need a pillow?”  
  
  
“So you’re comfy afterwards,” Willow explained as she slung the backpack over her shoulder and tucked the pillow under her arm, “Will you grab my keys?”  
  
  
Tara took the keys to the Mercedes from the hook and both women walked out to the car, throwing everything into the backseat and fastening themselves into the front before Willow began driving as they made their way to the clinic.   
  
  
They parked outside the building when they arrived and Willow took the backpack and pillow in her hands before they started towards the clinic.  
  
  
“Willow, Tara!”  
  
  
The couple were greeted the moment they stepped through the glass doors of the clinic by the nurse, Maya.  
  
  
“Hi,” Willow responded, “We’re here–”  
  
  
“The egg retrieval, I know,” Maya smiled, “I can bring you upstairs.”  
  
  
“Um, okay,” Willow replied before frowning in confusion, “Upstairs?”  
  
  
Maya just gestured with her hand and led them down a hallway and up a staircase that neither woman had been up before, not even knowing the clinic had a second floor, the bottom floor covering quite a large area with multiple rooms as it was.  
  
  
“Our fertility clinic operates chiefly from our second floor,” Maya explained, “Since you two were regular patients of Dr. Wells and attending her not just as part of the fertility clinic, she preformed all the examinations in her own room, but any surgical procedures need to be done up here in our theatre rooms.”  
  
  
Maya pushed a door open and revealed a large waiting area with four other couples all sitting, reading magazines or just generally looking anxious. There was a reception desk off to the side, with two receptionists sitting behind it, a young looking man with a nametag that said ‘John’ and a kind looking older woman with a tag that said ‘Blanche’, who looked up with a smile when she heard the door being opened. Maya led the couple over.  
  
  
“This is Willow and Tara,” she said quietly, “They’re here for an egg retrieval.”  
  
  
“Oh, hello,” the female receptionist greeted as she discreetly started typing on her computer, “Dr. Wells, eleven o’ clock, right? If you just take a seat–”  
  
  
“Oh, Blanche, I’m their nurse today,” Maya cut the woman off with a smile, “I can take them straight through to the surgical waiting room, is that okay?”  
  
  
Blanche nodded pleasantly and Maya brought Willow and Tara through another door, with a plaque that said ‘Surgery’ on it, off to the side. Through that door, was a smaller waiting room, this one empty, with another desk that said ‘Nurses’ Station’ above it.  
  
  
“You’re our only surgical patients this morning,” Maya explained as she walked over to a large cabinet within the nurses’ station and opened the door, pulling out some items of clothing, then handing them to Tara, “You can change into these in those dressing rooms over there and put your own clothes into a locker. I’ll just get you a key...”  
  
  
“Oh, it’s okay,” Willow replied quickly, “I’ll take care of her stuff.”  
  
  
Maya smiled and nodded, before going retrieving something from a box that was set on top of the nurses’ station desk marked ‘incoming’.   
  
  
“Just a hospital bracelet,” she said as she secured it around Tara’s wrist, “Not that we’re going to get confused with only you here, but its procedure. Okay, if you go get changed and I’ll let Dr. Wells and the anaesthesiologist know you’re here.”  
  
  
Maya sat behind the nurses’ station and picked up the phone while Tara looked over to where they were four small rooms, each shielded off by a curtain.  
  
  
“I’ll just go get into these,” she said, holding up the bundle Maya had given her in indication.  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow nodded, handing the blonde the backpack, “You can put your clothes in here and I’ll keep them safe.”  
  
  
“From the throng of people here who could take them?” Tara asked, smirking.  
  
  
Willow blushed but looked defiant.  
  
  
“Well maybe this place has evil little monsters who take your clothes when you’re not looking. Like the laundry monster.”  
  
  
“Oh, okay,” Tara agreed in mock-seriousness, “I’ll be right back.”  
  
  
Willow nodded again and watched Tara disappear behind one of the curtains, then walked over to one of chairs in the room, settling the pillow on her lap, unintentionally bringing her fingers up to her mouth and biting the skin around her nails.  
  
  
“Don’t be nervous,” Maya’s voice piped up from her seat, “We do this every day. She’ll really only be in the theatre room for 20 minutes or so.”  
  
  
Willow smiled a weak smile across the room.  
  
  
“How long will she be out for?”  
  
  
“An hour or two,” Maya answered, “People react differently to the anaesthesia. But once she’s brought into the recovery room, you can be in there with her.”  
  
  
“Really?” Willow asked, her face lighting up, “So I can hold her hand? And be there when she wake up?”  
  
  
Maya smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“Not a problem.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow breathed a sigh of relief, “Okay. That’s good.”  
  
  
Tara appeared from the dressing room then, clad in pale blue, thin-material, disposable, drawstring pyjama bottoms and a similar-in-material gown that reached to just above her knees and was tied in the back.  
  
  
“The anaesthesiologist will be here shortly,” Maya told Tara as she sat down beside Willow, “We share him with a few other clinics and a hospital, so he’s still on his way here, but it won’t be long.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara nodded with a smile, “Thanks.”  
  
  
She settled into her seat and turned to Willow, taking one of her hands.  
  
  
“Stop worrying.”  
  
  
“I’m not,” Willow replied unconvincingly.  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
“You think I don’t know your worry face?”  
  
  
Willow gave a small smile at that.  
  
  
“You’re about to have surgery, I don’t care how minor it is, it’s perfectly normal for a spouse to be worried.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara agreed, seeing and understanding that Willow was going to worry no matter what she said, so opted to change the subject, “Beef stew.”  
  
  
Willow’s brow crinkled in confusion.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
“That’s what I want for dinner,” Tara replied with a smile, “You said you’d make whatever I wanted.”  
  
  
“You got it,” Willow nodded enthusiastically, “And I’ll get the crusty bread you really like so you can scoop it all up.”  
  
  
Maya discreetly watched the couple and smiled at the loving interaction between the two. She’d specialised in fertility nursing because she wanted to help create families and it always warmed her heart when she could help a particularly loving couple bring a child into the world.   
  
  
She was pulled from her thoughts as she heard a door close off to the side and saw the familiar face of Dr. Mathus walk into the nurses’ station, briefcase in hand.  
  
  
“You weren’t kidding when you said it was quiet this morning,” the sandy-haired doctor commented as he put his briefcase down.  
  
  
“It’s new patient morning, everyone else is just here for initial consults,” Maya replied in explanation, “We normally don’t have surgical patients at all on the first Friday of the month, but you know how this goes, we have to work around women’s cycles.”  
  
  
Dr. Mathus nodded in understanding and turned one of the chairs near Maya around so he could sit.  
  
  
“Right. Sorry, I forget between all the clinics, who does what on which days. I’m presuming that’s our couple over there?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Maya replied, dragging a file across the desk and holding it out to the doctor, “Willow and Tara Rosenberg-Maclay. No fertility issues known in either woman. Tara’s been going under standard hormone treatment for the past three weeks. Egg retrieval today, with a follicle count of fifteen. Eggs to be harvested and implanted in Willow’s uterus on Monday given fertilization occurs.”  
  
  
Dr. Mathus nodded along as the nurse spoke, and read through the file, taking the information he needed before closing the file.  
  
  
“Okay, I’ll go get everything ready. Is Julia en route?”  
  
  
“She’s just finishing a consult downstairs,” Maya responded, referring to Dr. Wells, “She should be up any minute.”  
  
  
“Alright,” Dr. Mathus replied, standing up, “Thanks, Maya.”  
  
  
The doctor disappeared into one of the theatre rooms, the door of that room closing almost simultaneously as another opened and Dr. Wells appeared around the nurses’ station as well.  
  
  
“Morning Maya,” she greeted with a smile, “How’s everything going up here?”  
  
  
“Dr. Mathus is preparing anaesthesia in Theatre 3, Tara’s ready to go.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded and looked around.  
  
  
“It’s eerie how quiet it is. We haven’t had a first-Friday-of-the-month patient in a while,” she remarked before snapping her fingers as she thought of something, “I’ll need you in theatre today to assist...John should be able to handle the clinic reception for half an hour, can you call Blanche in to keep things in order here?”  
  
  
There was normally a lot more patients waiting in the room, and in turn, quite a few nurses as well to keep an eye on the waiting room, but since the other nurses that worked at the clinic were involved with their own patients, there would be none around when Maya went into theatre, leaving Willow alone in the room.  
  
  
At the very least, that was an insurance liability and Dr. Wells was all too aware of how Willow could freak out given too much silence or time to think.  
  
  
“Sure,” Maya replied, picking up the phone to call the receptionist in, “No problem.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled and nodded before walking over to the couple.  
  
  
“Good morning,” she greeted warmly, “How are you both feeling this morning?”  
  
  
“We’re good,” Tara replied, giving the hand in hers a squeeze.  
  
  
Dr. Wells noticed Willow was tapping her foot.  
  
  
“It’s normal to be nervous, you know.”  
  
  
“Told you,” Willow muttered.  
  
  
Tara turned her head and kissed her wife’s cheek before turning back to Dr. Wells.  
  
  
“Are we...?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Dr. Wells smiled, understanding what Tara meant, “I just need to go scrub in, but Maya will bring you into the theatre as soon as we’re all ready. I’ll see you both on the other side, okay?”  
  
  
Willow and Tara nodded and the doctor walked across the empty room, her footsteps loudly echoing around the walls until she too disappeared behind the same door Dr. Mathus had, while Blanche appeared in the waiting room and walked over to the nurses’ station, sitting beside Maya.  
  
  
“You’re not allowed pace while I’m in there,” Tara said softly to her wife.  
  
  
Willow looked at the blonde sceptically.  
  
  
“That’s asking a lot.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and shook her head slightly.  
  
  
“I’ve very glad we’re getting you pregnant and not me. I don’t think I could’ve coped with you in a state of permanent panic for nine months.”  
  
  
Willow managed a smile at that but was stopped from responding as a shrill ringing from the nurses’ station made her jump in her seat slightly. She saw Maya answer the phone and speak into it for a moment, before hanging up, saying something to Blanche and standing up.  
  
  
She walked over to the couple and smiled at Tara.   
  
  
“Are you ready?”  
  
Tara nodded at the nurse before turning to Willow, taking the pillow from her lap and putting it on the floor, then wrapping her arms around her wife in a hug.  
  
  
“You better be holding my hand when I wake up,” she whispered in her ear.  
  
  
“Promise,” Willow whispered back, closing the embrace and squeezing the blonde tightly, “And I won’t pace.”  
  
  
Tara pulled back and placed a light kiss on her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“That’s my girl.”  
  
  
Tara squeezed the redhead’s hand again before standing up and following Maya into the theatre room. It was a plain white room with nothing but sterilised medical equipment and a large, metal bed on wheels in the middle; a white pillow and blanket on it, with suspended stirrups hanging over the end of it.  
  
  
Dr. Wells wasn’t in the room, presumably still preparing in an adjacent room, but Dr. Mathus was at the top of the room, preparing something in a hanging bag.  
  
  
“You can just slip off those pyjama bottoms and lie down on the bed, Tara,” Maya said as she guided Tara over to the bed, “I'm Dr. Mathus, by the way, your anaesthesiologist.”  
  
  
Tara slipped the disposable pyjama bottoms down her legs, which Maya took and threw into the large waste bin in the room, then climbed onto the bed, settling her head comfortably on the pillow while Maya made sure the blanket covered her. The nurse then brought a portable machine over to the bed; placing a cuff around her upper arm and a clip-on attachment to her finger that would monitor her vital signs.  
  
  
“Okay, Tara, I’ll just get you to slip your feet into these stirrups,” Maya continued, helping Tara do just that, “I know it’s not very comfortable, but you won’t be conscious long.”  
  
  
“Just another minute or so,” Dr. Mathus spoke up as he wheeled the bag of medication over to the bed and picked up Tara’s hand, “I’m just going to start an IV here. You might feel a pinch.”  
  
  
He slipped the needle into Tara’s skin and Maya secured it with a piece of tape while the doctor held the suspended, clear bag, making sure everything was being administered properly. He then walked over to the corner of the room and retrieved a machine, wheeling it over to Tara.  
  
  
“I’m going to place this mask on you, is that okay?” he asked and got an answering nod, “You can count backwards from 10 in your head.”  
  
  
Tara felt the plastic covering her mouth her nose and started to follow the doctor’s instructions to count backwards from 10.  
  
  
By 6, her whole world was black.


	13. Chapter 13

  
  
Willow pressed her feet firmly into the ground to stop the urge to jump up and pace. She held the pillow she had picked up from the floor firmly against her chest, wondering how on earth it could only have been 5 minutes since Tara had gone into the theatre room, when she could have easily guessed it was 5 hours.  
  
  
“Here you go, dear.”  
  
  
Willow looked up to see Blanche, the receptionist, standing over her, holding out a glass of water.  
  
  
“Thank you,” she said, accepting the glass and taking a small sip.  
  
  
“You looked like you needed it,” Blanche replied before gesturing at the empty seat beside the redhead, “Can I...?”  
  
  
Willow looked surprised but nodded.  
  
  
“Sure.”  
  
  
Blanche sat down and there was a lull of silence for a few moments before she spoke up again.  
  
  
“You don’t need to be worried. My daughter went through two rounds of IVF in this place, you know.”  
  
  
Willow’s turned her head to the older woman.  
  
  
“Really? Did it work?”  
  
  
Blanche stood up then and went over to the nurses’ desk, picking up her purse before returning with her wallet a moment later. She opened it and revealed a picture of two blonde girls, one of about 6 and the other around 3.  
  
  
“They’re adorable,” Willow smiled at happy faces in the photo before placing the pillow back on the floor, along with her glass of water, then reaching into her pocket to retrieve her own wallet, showing Blanche one of the pictures inside, “That’s our son. JJ.”  
  
  
“He looks like a fine young man,” Blanche said complimentarily, “And very like your...”  
  
  
She gestured towards the theatre room.  
  
  
“Oh, my wife,” Willow clarified, “Tara.”  
  
  
“Wife,” Blanche replied, before adding with a blush, “Sorry. People are so politically correct these days and take such offense if you accidentally call them by the wrong term. I’m never sure exactly what to say. I’ve never had an issue with people finding love with whomever they want, I wouldn’t want people to think I did because I’m a bit of an old fogey who doesn’t quite keep up with what’s okay or not okay to say these days.”  
  
  
“Its’ okay,” Willow responded with an easy smile, “I don’t mind if people say we’re partners or something, but I do love calling her my wife. ‘Cause, you know, she is. We got married 5 years ago. Well, 6 in a couple of weeks.”  
  
  
Blanche gave a happy smile.  
  
  
“6 years? You must have had your son pretty quickly after you got married. He looks 5 or 6.”  
  
  
“He’s 5,” Willow replied fondly, “We adopted him about 6 months after we got married.”  
  
  
“Well, he’s a lucky boy,” Blanche responded warmly, “And does he know he’s getting a brother or sister soon?”  
  
  
“Oh, no,” Willow shook her head, “Nobody does. We want to wait until we know I’m definitely pregnant and safe and everything.”  
  
  
“Oh, you’re going to carry the baby,” Blanche replied, her tone cheery, “I always thought that was a marvellous idea for...um...”  
  
  
Willow saw the older woman was getting concerned about her speech pattern again and laughed.  
  
  
“You can say lesbian.”  
  
  
Blanche blushed again but continued.  
  
  
“For lesbian couples. I’m of the opinion that no matter how a child is brought into the world, it’s the caring after, that matters, that makes people parents, but I do understand why a biological link can be important for some too.”  
  
  
Willow nodded along as the older woman spoke.  
  
  
“Well, biology isn’t really a factor for us,” she said after thinking for a moment, “I mean, JJ is our son, completely and fully, and he has been since the day he was born, even if it took a few months for everything to be official. We just decided to do things this way because I really, really wanted to experience being pregnant and...well, not that if we used my eggs it would be any less her child, just like using hers doesn’t make him or her any less mine, but knowing that it’s her baby inside me...going to be inside me...I dunno, it just seems right for us.”  
  
  
Blanche put a warm hand on the redhead’s shoulder.  
  
  
“You don’t need to explain to me. I think it’s wonderful that you’re bringing a child into the world with two loving parents. That’s why I got a job at this clinic. I was a teacher all my life until I retired, and after a year of doing nothing and slowly going insane, I thought what better way to occupy my time than being involved somehow in the very place that brought my wonderful granddaughters to me. I know even just a friendly face at reception can be very important with all the stress this process can bring.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in wholehearted agreement.  
  
  
“Everyone here is so nice and friendly. We definitely would be struggling a whole lot more if we didn’t have the support of the clinic.”  
  
  
Blanche opened her mouth again to speak but was stopped when the double doors of the theatre room flung open and revealed Maya pushing the wheeled bed out. Willow looked down at her watch in shock that the past 20 minutes had gone by so quickly when the first 5 had dragged for so long. She turned to Blanche.  
  
  
“Thank you so much for talking with me. It really helped. I’m just gonna...”  
  
  
Blanche waved a hand towards the bed.  
  
  
“Go. I’m sure I’ll see you when you girls are in again.”  
  
  
Willow smiled at the older woman before she grabbed the pillow and backpack from the floor and rushed over to the bed, stroking her unconscious wife’s hair.  
  
  
“What happened? Is she okay? Did it go okay?”  
  
  
“Things went ideally, Willow,” Dr. Wells’ voice appeared as she walked from the room, writing something in a chart, “I was able to retrieve 11 eggs, all of which are being sent down to our lab to start the fertilization process so we can make your embryos. I’m afraid I have to rush off, I’m late for a consultation, but I’ll be back to examine Tara before you leave.”  
  
  
“Thank you, doctor,” Willow called as Dr. Wells put the chart on the end of the bed, smiled and quickly rushed through a door from the nurses' station.  
  
  
“I’m just going to take her to the recovery room,” Maya said, pushing forwards the bed slightly, “But you can of course come.”  
  
  
Willow smiled at the nurse gratefully as she pushed the bed down the hallway, taking a quick turn before pushing through another set of double doors into a white room that was separated into sections by curtains, though all were pulled back as no one else was in the room.  
  
  
Maya secured Tara’s bed on one side of the room and brought a chair over for Willow to sit on.  
  
  
“Like I said earlier, it can be an hour or two before she wakes up. Would you like some magazines from the waiting room?”  
  
  
“No, it’s okay,” Willow replied, sitting on the chair and lifting the blanket just a little so she could take her wife’s hand, “I’ll just watch her.”  
  
  
Maya smiled and picked up the chart on the end of the bed, writing down what time it was for their notes.  
  
  
“Okay. Well we’ll be getting our afternoon influx of surgical patients in a little while, so I need to go prepare for those, but as soon as Tara wakes up, could you press that nurse call button above her bed there? It’s motion censored.”  
  
  
She pointed at a metal square attached to the wall above the bed, with a circular indent in the middle that if you placed your finger over, would trigger the call in the nurses’ station.  
  
  
“Sure,” Willow replied, her eyes not leaving Tara’s face.  
  
  
She heard the doors close again a moment later as the nurse left and brought the hand that wasn’t holding Tara’s up to her wife’s forehead, wiping some of her hair from her brow before shuffling her seat forwards and placing a warm kiss against Tara’s temple.  
  
  
“Love you, baby,” she whispered into the room, “I'm here whenever you wake up.”  
  
  
She didn’t keep track of how long she spent just watching her slumbering love sleep, looking on at every line and crease on her wife's face that she had memorised so well over the years, occasionally bringing a hand up to reverently touch her, but mostly just taking the silence as an opportunity for some unabashed Tara-gazing.  
  
  
After a while though, Tara’s eyes started to flutter open, looking around in confusion and lethargy. She tried to sit up a moment later but stumbled in uncertainty.  
  
  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Willow comforted, guiding her wife back down into a lying position, “It’s okay, baby, I’m here. Nothing’s wrong. We’re in the clinic, remember?”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes as she tried to register exactly what had happened and Willow set off the nurse call button as requested as she continued to whisper comforting words in her wife’s ear.  
  
  
“You're okay, honey. I'm here.”  
  
  
Maya appeared through the doors a moment later carrying a small circular tray and walked over to the bed.  
  
  
“Hey, Tara,” she greeted, putting the tray on the end of the bed and taking the blonde’s hand and placing her fingers against her wrist to monitor her pulse, “How’re you feeling?”  
  
  
Tara’s hazy mind began to focus as she opened her eyes and saw Maya in her nurse’s uniform.  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied, before groaning softly, “Kind of cramp-y.”  
  
  
“Oh, oh!” Willow piped up, grabbing the backpack and unzipping it, “I have a heating pad. She can use one of those, right?”  
  
  
“Definitely,” Maya smiled before reaching down to where she’d placed the tray, picking up a small plastic container that had two cylindrical, white pills in it, “And you can take these two Tylenol. I have some ginger ale and crackers here for you too, I’m sure you’re starving.”  
  
  
Tara took the ginger ale from the nurse, taking a sip and swallowing the pills.  
  
  
“Wha-” she tried to clear her throat as it came out in a squeak, “How did it...”  
  
  
“You did great, love,” Willow said from the side, her hand still clasping the blonde’s, “They got 11 eggs and they’re making our baby right now.”  
  
  
Tara looked relieved and Maya handed Willow the crackers to give to Tara whenever she wanted them.  
  
  
“I’m going to go tell Dr. Wells you’re awake so she can come up to do your post-op exam, but press the nurse call button if you need anything.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in understanding and Maya left again. The redhead stood up and put the crackers down on her chair, taking the heating pad she had retrieved from the backpack.  
  
  
“I’m just gonna put this on your tummy now, yea?  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara nodded, smiling softly, “They’re really making our baby?”  
  
  
“You bet,” Willow beamed up at her wife as she pulled the blanket on top of Tara back, “I’m gonna pull up your gown, okay?”  
  
  
  
“Willow,” Tara replied hazily, “I don’t think we’re allowed-”  
  
  
“Your heat pad,” Willow explained, unable to hide her grin, “Just to put your heat pad on.”  
  
  
Tara wasn’t lucid enough to be embarrassed about her confusion, her eyes fluttering closed as she felt plastic settle on her stomach and heat begin to radiate from it, helping the cramping feeling she was experiencing.  
  
  
Willow pulled her wife’s gown back down and covered her again with the blanket before going back over to her seat, picking up the pack of crackers.  
  
  
“Here, baby, eat something.”  
  
  
Tara opened her eyes again, forcing herself to keep them open this time.  
  
  
“Can I sit up?”  
  
  
“Um, just a little,” Willow replied, picking up the pillow she’d brought, “I’ll put this behind you.”  
  
  
She put the pillow behind the blonde’s back so she was elevated slightly while her lower half remained horizontal. Tara took the open packet of crackers offered to her and started to slowly eat them.  
  
  
“You did so amazing,” Willow spoke up in awe from her seat.  
  
  
“All I did was sleep,” Tara replied in a less-hazy, joking voice.  
  
  
Willow inhaled deeply to stop the flood of emotion that was coursing through her, opting to release it by leaning forward and placing the warmest of kisses on the side of her wife’s head, before whispering in her ear.  
  
  
“I love you so much.”  
  
  
“Love you too,” Tara replied before holding out the bag in her hand, “Want a cracker?”  
  
  
Willow placed another kiss against her wife’s hair and laughed.  
  
  
“Yes. Thank you.”  
  
  
Willow took one of the offered crackers and popped in her mouth while Tara quietly finished off the rest, her empty stomach gratefully accepting them.  
  
  
When she finished, Willow took the packaging and brought it over to the trash can in the room. Just as she was returning to her seat, Dr. Wells appeared through the doorway, smiling.  
  
  
“Hey there, Tara. How’re you feeling?”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied, “Just a little groggy.”  
  
  
“That’s normal,” the doctor responded, pulling a wheeled chair over from another area of the room, “I just need to do a quick check to make sure everything’s alright, is that okay?”  
  
  
Tara nodded and Dr. Wells went about doing her brief examination, satisfied that all was well.  
  
  
“Alright, things are looking great. I’m going to start you some antibiotics to prevent infection and a steroid to stop any of your reproductive organs becoming enflamed. Also, Willow,” she said, turning her gaze to the redhead, “I’m going to write you up on a progesterone cream, it’ll help prepare your uterus for the embryo transfer. Don’t start using it until we call you tomorrow to confirm that the transfer can go ahead, okay?”  
  
  
Willow nodded her understanding and took the two separate prescriptions the doctor handed over to her.  
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled at the redhead, then looked back at Tara.  
  
  
“Okay, Tara, I’m happy for you to be discharged. Take it easy getting changed, nice and slowly, take as much time as you need. I need you to rest for the remainder of the day, okay? Rest, rest, rest.”  
  
  
“She will,” Willow spoke up and Tara smiled, “Don’t worry.”  
  
  
“Excellent,” Dr. Wells continued, “You can continue to take some Tylenol to help with the pain, but if you develop a temperature or any abdominal swelling, fainting, dizziness, very heavy bleeding; call us straight away, or go to the ER out of hours. Also, avoid baths or swimming pools over the weekend and no sex.”  
  
  
The doctor lowered her voice, despite them being the only people in the room.  
  
  
“By Sunday evening, it should be fine,” she said with a pointed look, “Come Monday, post-transfer, you’ll have to abstain for the two weeks until we can confirm pregnancy.”  
  
  
“Oh right,” Willow replied with a small blush, looking away just slightly, “Thanks.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara echoed. She didn’t feel anywhere near as hazy or groggy as she had when she’d first woken up, but she was looking forward to getting home and just lying down in her own bed, “So we’ll expect a call tomorrow?”  
  
  
“Before lunch,” Dr. Wells confirmed with a smile, “Maya will call and let you know, and she’ll schedule the transfer if we can go ahead. Do you two have any questions? At all, about today or the next steps?”  
  
  
Willow looked at Tara who shook her head no, indicating she had no questions, and she looked back at the doctor.  
  
  
“Will I need to bring anything on Monday?”   
  
  
“Just yourself,” Dr. Wells smiled, “Your relaxed self. You won’t need anaesthesia or anything. You can be there the whole time, Tara.”  
  
  
Willow beamed at that, as did Tara.  
  
  
“Great. Okay. Thanks, Dr. Wells. See you Monday. Hopefully.”  
  
  
“Positive thinking,” Dr. Wells replied in a warm tone, “I’m almost certain I’ll see you Monday.”  
  
  
The couple shared a delighted a smile and Dr. Wells departed again.  
  
  
“Let’s get you dressed,” Willow said, glowing with happiness, “And then I’ll take you home.”  
  
  
She stood and pulled the curtain around their area across in case someone else happened to walk in, then went and unzipped the backpack, taking the fresh clothes she had packed earlier.  
  
  
“Here, let me help you,” she said as Tara started to sit up, taking her hand and helping her to stand, “Is the heating pad helping?”  
  
  
“Definitely,” Tara replied as she reached behind herself and pulled the string on her gown open, letting it fall from her body, leaving her naked.  
  
  
“Wow,” Willow said in a squeak, clearing her throat, “Jeez, give a girl a little warning when you’re just gonna show off the goods like that.”  
  
  
Tara blushed and took her bra from the pile of clothing Willow was holding out to her, quickly pulling the loose t-shirt over her head as well. She was about to take her panties, but when she tried to bend over, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen.  
  
  
“Willow, could you help me?” she asked, holding a hand against the heat pad on her stomach.  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow replied, quickly dropping to her knees, “Take it easy, honey.”  
  
  
Tara lifted each of her feet as the redhead pulled her panties up her body, then again as Willow helped to settle her sweat pants on.  
  
  
“Comfy?” Willow asked, straightening up again, “No uncomfortable pressing?”  
  
  
“I’m comfortable,” Tara answered before gesturing towards the backpack, “You packed pads, right? I should probably go put one on in case.”  
  
  
Willow leant over the backpack again and reached into the bottom of it, producing a single pad a moment later. Tara took it with a grateful smile before pulling the curtain back again and gingerly walking towards the door that said ‘bathroom’.  
  
  
Willow smoothed the sheet on the bed while she waited, folding the used gown at the end of the bed and zipping up the backpack again. She slung it over her shoulder and picked up the extra pillow she had brought, looking around the bed to make sure she had everything. Once satisfied, she went and stood closer to the exit door.  
  
  
The sound of a toilet being flushed was heard a moment later and Tara appeared back in the room.  
  
  
“You ready, angel?” Willow asked kindly, taking her wife’s hand as she came up beside her.  
  
  
Tara nodded.  
  
  
“I’m ready.”  
  
  
Willow walked them out of the recovery room and led them down the right hallways back to the waiting room, since Tara had been unconscious on the way there. Once they got there, they saw the waiting room was littered with more couples, and there were a few different nurses sitting behind the nurses’ station.  
  
  
One of them was Maya, who smiled and waved them over when she saw them.  
  
  
“I just need you to sign these discharge papers and you can leave,” she said, placing a form and a pen on the desk, which Tara picked up and signed, “I’ll be giving you a call tomorrow. Don’t forget to take it easy, Tara.”  
  
  
“I’ve been told,” Tara replied, grinning over at her wife, “I don’t have much choice with this one.”  
  
  
“Watch it or I won’t fluff your pillows,” Willow grinned back before looking at Maya, “Thanks for everything.”  
  
  
“No problem,” Maya replied, holding her hand up in a wave, “Talk to you tomorrow.”  
  
  
Willow waved back before she started guiding Tara out the door, through the first waiting room and gently helped her down the stairs and out to their car.  
  
  
“Here,” she said as Tara sat into the passenger seat, rolling the seat back slightly and positioning the pillow behind her wife’s back, “Is that okay?”  
  
  
Tara settled her back comfortably against the pillow.  
  
  
“You don’t need to fuss, you know.”  
  
  
“Except, my beautiful wife,” Willow replied, securing the blonde’s seatbelt in place before placing a quick kiss on her lips, “I want to.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as Willow shut the car door and walked around to the other side, sitting in the driver’s seat, throwing the bag in the backseat before turning the engine on.  
  
  
“Music or no music?”  
  
  
“Is no music okay?” Tara asked in response, “I have a little headache.”  
  
  
“No problem,” Willow answered as she pulled out of the car space, “You rest your eyes and then you can have a proper nap as soon as we’re home.”  
  
  
Tara followed her wife’s advice and let her eyes flutter closed. Willow drove slowly the whole way home, trying to avoid any speedbumps or any sudden jerking, stopping at a pharmacy to collect the prescriptions the doctor had given her, leaving a dozing Tara in the passenger seat before continuing the journey home  
  
Tara opened her eyes when she felt the engine being turned off for the second time and felt Willow's hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly.  
  
“I must've drifted off. It felt like we were only driving for a minute.”  
  
  
“Which definitely means a nap is in order,” Willow replied with a smile, “But you only had those crackers, think you could manage a sandwich and some tea before your nap? I’ll have your dinner ready later but I don’t want you going hungry.”  
  
  
“I could eat,” Tara agreed.  
  
  
They exited the car, Tara carrying the pillow and Willow the bag, both of which were deposited on the floor in the foyer before they both made their way into the kitchen, Tara sitting tenderly on one of the stools as Willow went over to the refrigerator.   
  
  
“Is turkey and mustard okay?” Willow asked, retrieving the right ingredients, “I made it for JJ’s lunch so we have some leftovers.”  
  
  
Tara moved to rest her chin on her hand and smiled.  
  
  
“That sounds great.”  
  
  
Willow flicked the switch on the electric kettle on, then turned and started preparing Tara’s sandwich, spreading the mustard on the bread and placing the slices of turkey lengthways on top. The water in the kettle boiled and she grabbed a teabag, pouring the hot water in on top of it before placing the plate and mug in front of her wife.  
  
  
“Turkey with mustard and tea with a squirt of honey,” she said with a smile, “Eat up.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara murmured before tucking into her food.  
  
  
Willow started rooting through the fridge as Tara enjoyed her lunch, looking for the things she would need for the beef stew her wife wanted for dinner. Once confirming that they had everything she would need, she grabbed an apple from the vegetable crisper, still quite full from the oatmeal she’d had for breakfast and figuring the fruit would tide her over until later.  
  
  
Tara took the last bite of her sandwich and washed it down as she drank the last of her tea, the sweetness settling pleasantly on her tastebuds.  
  
  
“Rest time for you,” Willow said as she took her wife’s dishes and put them in the sink, “Come on, up we go.”  
  
  
“You don’t have to take me up,” Tara said as the redhead took her hand and led them towards the stairs.  
  
  
“But then how will I tuck you in?” Willow asked in mock-exasperation, quickly grabbing the pillow from the ground.  
  
  
Tara let out a low chuckle as they ascended the stairs.  
  
  
“You do know I’m not JJ, right?”  
  
  
“Oh I know,” Willow replied, grinning, as they walked into their bedroom and over to the bed, where Tara kicked off her shoes and lay down under the covers, “The boobs gave it away. But this is a special wifey tucking-in. Instead of a story...you get smoochies.”  
  
  
An easy smile graced the blonde’s features as she watched Willow throw the extra pillow onto the empty space beside her, before kneeling down, leaving them in the same position she’d women up in.  
  
  
“Twice in one day there’s a beautiful redhead hovering over my bed. I’m feeling lucky.”  
  
  
“Hey,” Willow replied with a faux-pout, “I’m the one they call Google. Don’t go stealing my catchphrases.”  
  
  
Tara giggled and Willow reached forward, running a finger along her wife’s eyebrow before leaning over and pressing their lips firmly together. Their kiss was slow and sweet, lasting several minutes until Tara pulled away with a yawn.  
  
  
“Sorry,” she said, covering her hand with her mouth.  
  
  
“Don’t be,” Willow replied, placing a lingering kiss on her wife’s forehead, “Sleep now. And if you wake up and I’m not here, I’m just gone to collect JJ, okay?”  
  
  
Tara nodded sleepily, her eyes already closing. Willow watched the blonde’s body relax into the mattress and saw her breath even out before she stood up, happy that Tara was sleeping.  
  
  
She started to make her way back downstairs, thinking she could get started on Tara’s stew and let it cook slowly to make it as tasty as possible, when a loud knocking on the front door made her jump back slightly in fright.  
  
  
She rushed down the rest of the stairs, worried whoever was there would knock again and wake Tara, and flung the door open, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw Anya standing there, wearing a surgical mask that covered her mouth and nose.  
  
  
“Willow, finally. I’m on my lunch break.”  
  
  
Willow looked perplexed.  
  
  
“Um...hi, Anya.”  
  
  
“Hi,” Anya greeted, keeping her hands firmly in her pockets, “Xander told me you and Tara have the flu.”  
  
  
“Oh, right,” Willow replied, bringing her hand up to her mouth and faking a cough, “Yea, really not feeling great.”  
  
  
Anya visibly recoiled at the cough and took a step backwards.  
  
  
“I’m here to collect clothes for JJ.”  
  
  
Willow raised an eyebrow, confused.  
  
  
“Um...why do you need his clothes?”  
  
  
Anya sighed behind her mask.  
  
  
“I am in the process of landing one of the biggest clients my firm has ever had. If I do, I will receive a bonus larger than your entire salary and that will result in many, many pretty things. But I won’t be able to suitably entertain these clients if I catch your infernal germs. And since are children seem to have this bond, your son will almost inevitably pass the germs he catches from you, onto my son, who will then pass them onto me. So, you can consider this an intervention. I will collect JJ from school today, he can stay with us this weekend and you can collect him from school on Monday.”  
  
  
Willow blinked a few times in shock.  
  
  
“This isn’t you asking, is it?”  
  
  
Anya blinked this time, in annoyance.  
  
  
“Every second I’m standing here, more of your evil bacteria is being passed on to me.”  
  
  
Willow brought a hand up to her head and rubbed her temple. She knew Anya had no risk of getting sick, but she couldn’t explain that without revealing what she and Tara had actually been doing.   
  
  
Plus she thought that maybe it was a good idea for JJ to be away from the house while Tara recovered, she didn’t want him accidentally jumping on her stomach on something similar.   
  
  
And despite her ulterior motives, Anya offering to take JJ while she thought her and Tara was sick was really quite kind.   
  
  
“You sure you don’t mind, Ahn? Taking him for the weekend?”  
  
  
Anya shrugged.  
  
  
“You can take Alex for us some weekend too. Although I’d prefer if neither Xander or I were sick. I’d like to use the time to have extra orgasms and not be excessively vomiting.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. It was Anya, after all, and she’d grown to love and accept the woman as she was, “Um, I’ll just go get some of his clothes.”  
  
  
Anya started shaking her head at that.  
  
  
“The less contact you have with anything I have to touch, the better. I’ll do it.”  
  
  
“Alright,” Willow replied, standing aside to let Anya through the door, “But quietly, okay? Tara’s sleeping.”  
  
  
Anya nodded before looking at the redhead suspiciously.  
  
  
“You look pretty good for someone who took off work with the flu. And why aren’t you in bed too?”  
  
  
“I was,” Willow replied in fake-haughtiness, “Until you started knocking on the door like a crazy person. And, um...I’m wearing make-up. You feel better if you look better, you know? Tara has it much worse anyway.”  
  
  
Anya just shrugged before turning to walk up the stairs.  
  
  
“Is everything in his room?”  
  
  
“Anya, shush,” Willow hissed, carefully closing the door and following Anya up the stairs to JJ’s bedroom, “Everything’s in his dresser. You can pack things in that bag over there.”  
  
  
She nodded towards a backpack in the corner of the room, which Anya picked up before going towards the dresser, opening the drawers and taking what she knew JJ would need for the weekend.  
  
  
“Don’t forget his teddy,” Willow said, pointing to the small red bear on the bed that her son liked to sleep with.  
  
  
Anya took the toy and dropped it on top of the clothes before zipping up the bag.  
  
  
“Hey, Ahn, thanks for this,” Willow said as they both walked downstairs again, “It’s really nice of you and Xand.”  
  
  
Anya didn’t respond, too focused on getting down the stairs and away from Willow and her supposed ‘germs’.  
  
  
“Bye, Willow,” she said as she covered her hand with her sleeve in order to open the front door, “Please keep your germs to yourself in future.”  
  
  
“I’ll try,” Willow replied dryly before thinking of something, “Hey, could you make sure JJ knows everything’s alright? He was worried this morning when I said Tara needed some extra rest.”  
  
  
Most of Anya’s face was covered by the mask, but Willow could see her eyes shining kindly in response to that.  
  
  
“We’ll call to say goodnight at bedtime.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and nodded.   
  
  
“Thanks. That’d be great.”  
  
  
Anya left then, driving away in the Lexus that she updated every year. Willow closed the door softly again and started towards the kitchen again, looking forward to having a quiet evening in, contemplating going to bed early too.  
  
  
The sooner morning came, the sooner they’d get the call.


	14. Chapter 14

  
Willow stretched her limbs beneath the warm blanket, enjoying the last vestiges of her sleep before she finally let her eyes open completely, scanning the area around her in a series of blinks before settling them where she expected a familiar body to be lying alongside her.  
  
  
She frowned when she saw the empty stretch of bed and haphazardly thrown to the side and messed blanket before hearing the dim sound of running water and figured Tara must be in the shower. She looked towards the alarm clock on her nightstand and smiled when she saw quite how late in the morning it was.  
  
  
Getting to sleep in at the weekends were a rarity since one or both women were almost inevitably woken up in the early hours by the sound of cartoons being blared at the highest sound level the television would provide or by a bowl crashing to the floor as JJ tried to make his own cereal.  
  
  
She contemplated waiting in bed until Tara was done showering and pulling her back in to cuddle or getting up and making herself some breakfast, but a loud rumbling of her stomach decided for her a moment later and she rolled out of bed and wrapped herself in her robe before going downstairs to the kitchen and popping some bread into the toaster.  
  
  
She had just bitten into her second slice of raspberry-jelly topped toast and was enjoying the satisfying crunch when she heard the phone start to ring from the foyer. Forgetting about its likely significance in her early-morning-grog and assuming it was probably just Anya with JJ on the phone to say good morning, she dropped her remaining breakfast onto her plate and rubbed her hands free of crumbs as she walked out and pressed the answer button, placing the phone against her ear.  
  
  
“Hey. Is he being good?”  
  
  
There was a silence for a moment before a confused yet amused voice spoke up.  
  
  
“Unless you’re referring to Greg, the other nurse on call here with me, I’m really not sure who you’re talking about.”  
  
  
Willow squealed as she recognised Maya’s voice and scrambled as she almost dropped the phone.  
  
  
“God, Maya, I’m sorry, I, I thought you were someone else,” she said once she’d recovered before suddenly realising the reason the nurse was calling, “Oh my god, the eggs, the eggs! What...how...I mean, what, can we-”  
  
  
“Breathe, Willow,” Maya encouraged from the end of the line, “I’m delighted to say I’m calling to schedule the transfer. Your embryonic fertilization was a success.”  
  
  
Willow had to grab on to the item nearest her, which happened to be a lamp, to keep herself steady as Maya relayed the technical information for the embryo transfer, then told her the time for their appointment on Monday.   
  
  
She took in the details as best she could, knowing it was important for her to remember, eventually grabbing the small note pad next to the phone and scribbling bullet points until Maya signed off and she heard the dial tone.  
  
  
She shakily placed the phone back in its holder, staring at it in shock for several moments before she suddenly squealed again and turned to rush up the stairs.  
  
  
“Tara! Tara! Tara!”  
  
  
She bounded up the stairs as she yelled and scurried down the hallway, where she could hear the shower still on, bursting into the bathroom.  
  
  
“Tara! Tara!”   
  
  
“Willow?” Tara’s confused voice came a moment later from behind the shower curtain, “Are you okay?”   
  
  
“Tara!” Willow repeated in exuberance again, moving forward and throwing back the shower curtain, “Tara! Baby! Tara...baby!”  
  
  
“Willow, what?” Tara asked, clearly alarmed, grabbing the rail of the shower curtain to keep herself from slipping.  
  
  
Willow starting gesturing wildly with her hands.  
  
  
“Baby!”   
  
  
Tara looked at the redhead expectantly, mistaking the exclamation as a pet name, the water from the showerhead still pouring out towards her, some splashing out onto the floor without the curtain to obscure its path.  
  
  
“Yes, Willow, I’m here.”  
  
  
“No!”   
  
  
Willow shook her head, jumping up and down on the spot for a moment in frustration that her excitement was stopping her from communicating properly. Acting on impulse, she jumped into the shower, fully clothed.  
  
  
“Willow, your clothes!” Tara exclaimed, completely bewildered by what was happening, “Honey, what's wrong? What is it?”  
  
  
Willow looked down at the water that was seeping through her robe and drenching her pyjamas, but she didn’t care. She grabbed her wife’s shoulders and took some steady breaths, looking deeply into the blonde’s eyes, willing her to understand as she breathed one word.  
  
  
“Baby.”  
  
  
Tara’s brow creased in further confusion before comprehension dawned and her eyes widened.  
  
  
“Baby?”  
  
  
Willow beamed and started nodding, seeing a glimmer of something light up in her wife's eyes before the blonde sought some more reassurance.  
  
  
“It...it worked? They...they made...?”  
  
  
Willow kept nodding enthusiastically, a relieved and delighted smile plastered all over her. She watched the glee break out on her wife’s before strong arms wrapped around her neck and she felt soft lips crushing her own.  
  
  
When Tara finally pulled away with an audible ‘pop’, Willow couldn’t control the grin that spread across her face. She looked down again to see her clothing pretty much stuck to her skin and burst out laughing, sheer joy coursing through her as she moved to embrace her wife in a soft hug, wary that she was still cramping from the procedure the day before, not caring about anything but transferring the love that was overwhelming her in the blonde's direction.  
  
  
As her arms closed around Tara’s back and she inhaled the scent of the blonde’s recently-shampooed hair, she finally found herself able to speak more than one word.  
  
  
“They made our baby.”   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara wiped her hands against a dishcloth as she finished cleaning up from the chilli Willow had made them for dinner. She hummed quietly as she folded the cloth and hung it off the side of the counter before she saw her wife come into the kitchen and lean against the doorway.  
  
  
“It’s so quiet without JJ, isn’t it? Tara commented with a smile that had yet to leave her face since finding out the news about the procedure success the morning before, “I keep waiting for him to come screaming into the room telling me he needs cupcakes for a bake sale in school tomorrow or something.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly.  
  
  
“Yea. He’s having a great weekend with Alex though,” she replied, having gotten dutiful phone calls in the evenings to say goodnight, the most recent just an hour beforehand, both JJ and Alex going to bed early since they had school the following morning, “And we’re not passing on our _flu_.”  
  
  
Tara tightened the lid on the Tupperware container of leftovers she was packaging and moved to put it in the refrigerator.  
  
  
“I hate lying,” she sighed as she closed the door, “Especially when Xander and Anya were so sweet offering to take him when they thought we were sick.”  
  
  
Willow pushed herself from the doorframe and walked further into the kitchen and over to her wife, placing a hand either side of her hips.  
  
  
“It’s not really a lie,” she said softly, giving the blonde’s hips a quick squeeze, “And they’ll all understand when we’re able to tell them there’s gonna be another little Rosenberg-Maclay running around.”  
  
  
Tara’s lips quirked into a smile at that.  
  
  
“Won’t be running for a while.”  
  
  
Willow laughed in response.  
  
  
“No, he or she’ll just be kicking my insides and using my bladder as a squeeze toy.”  
  
  
Tara’s smile got even wider then but she stayed quiet as a heavy air started to cross between the two women, their lingering gaze on each other flicked an invisible switch on inside them, causing an intoxication of senses as their eyes burned into one another silently.  
  
  
Willow knew exactly what the look passing between them meant and was eager to give in. It was practically doctor's orders, after all; Dr. Wells had told them Sunday night was their night before the two week abstinence kicked in.  
  
  
“Are you sore?” she questioned quietly, not wanting to start anything that her wife wouldn't want to finish with any lingering discomfort from the egg retrieval.  
  
  
Tara wordlessly shook her head, accompanied by a languid lick of her lips and Willow slowly slid her hands up her wife’s arms, tapping her fingers lightly against the back of the blonde’s neck, letting herself get lost in the blonde’s blue depths.   
  
  
“Tara...”  
  
  
“Yes?” Tara managed to ask, feeling her body temperature creep higher and higher with each passing second at the intense look she was being given.  
  
  
Willow leant across so her forehead was resting against the taller girl’s, feeling their hot breath co-mingle.  
  
  
She closed her eyes and brought one of her hands up, letting her fingers rest ever so lightly against the blonde’s cheek, then moved to brush their lips together in a tantalisingly teasing caress before speaking in a throaty whisper.  
  
  
“Take me to bed.”  
  
  
Tara felt a deep heat begin to throb in her lower stomach and moved her face forwards to close the small gap between them again, capturing her wife’s bottom lip and sucking on it as her hands dropped and grabbed onto the redhead’s butt through the fabric of her pants, all in one swift, fell movement.  
  
  
Willow felt her wife start a slight lifting motion on her butt as her hands squeezed. Taking the initiative, she gave a small jump and when Tara kept a firm hold on her ass, she wrapped her legs around the blonde’s waist and threw her arms around her neck, keeping herself steady in Tara’s arms as she slipped her tongue into the taller girl’s mouth, forgoing the teasing as her body took what it wanted.   
  
  
Tara audibly moaned into the kiss and pushed off from where she was leaning against the island, tightening her hold on her wife as she started walking towards the door. Opening her eyes to make sure she didn’t crash them into anything, she quickly led them up the stairs and to their bedroom, kicking the door closed.   
  
  
She scurried over to the bed and dropped the redhead onto the mattress, who landed with a soft bounce, before climbing on top of Willow and dropping her head for a smouldering kiss.  
  
  
Her hands went between their bodies and deftly worked the buttons of the smaller girl’s shirt loose and pushing the fabric back over her shoulders.  
  
  
“Tara...” Willow’s muffled voice broke through the kiss.  
  
  
“Mmhh, Willow...” Tara moaned in response, trailing her lips down into the redhead’s neck.  
  
  
Willow instinctively tilted her neck into the pillow with a moan but snapped her head back around when she felt a hand go to the button on her pants.  
  
  
“Wait, wait, baby, wait.”  
  
  
“You can take mine off in a sec,” Tara murmured as she started pushing the material of her wife’s pants down.  
  
  
Willow quickly grabbed the hand that was so eager to divest her of her clothing and brought it up to her mouth, kissing her wife’s open palm.  
  
  
“Tara.”  
  
  
Tara raised her head, looking worried.  
  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
  
“Nothing,” Willow replied before smiling widely, “God, absolutely nothing. Everything’s...so perfect. I just... I want to say something.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara responded softly, confused at the sudden quell in their passion, but ready to listen, “You know you can tell me anything.”  
  
  
Willow nodded and slid her hands around to rest on Tara’s shoulders, squeezing them lightly as she closed her eyes to gather her thoughts.  
  
  
“Yesterday...” she started after several long moments, fluttering her eyes open again, “I got all excited ‘cause the clinic made our baby. But that...wasn’t right.”  
  
  
Tara looked even more confused but stayed quiet as she let the redhead speak, which she did a moment later.  
  
  
“Tomorrow’s...well, it’s just the mechanical side of things. Right now, us, tonight...we’re the ones who are gonna make our baby. So, I...I love you, Tara. More than anything. You're...my whole world. And I just...needed to say that.”  
  
  
Willow waited for Tara to respond. The blonde seemed like she was going to a couple of times but appeared to be stunned into silence instead. An almost shaking hand came up to the redhead’s cheek before Tara leaned down and pressed her lips softly against her wife’s.  
  
  
Willow inhaled deeply through her nostrils to fill her lungs with enough oxygen that she could enjoy the tender and sensual, gentle lip caress but her eye flew open when she felt a wet splash on her cheek.  
  
  
The lone tear was the only one to escape Tara’s closed lids however and after watching the blonde intently for several long moments to ensure her wife’s tear was just a momentary reaction to being overcome with emotion and not anything more serious, she relaxed back into the kiss and moved one hand around to the back of Tara’s neck, massaging the skin there.  
  
  
“I love you too,” Tara almost inaudibly breathed against Willow’s lips many minutes later, “You’re my everything.”  
  
  
Willow responded without words, letting her emotion pout out through the kiss for several quiet minutes before her body started to rev up again and she poked her tongue out and pushed it between the blonde’s lips, running it along Tara’s teeth before slipping it fully inside her wife’s mouth and starting a duel with its twin.  
  
  
Her hands went to the end of Tara’s shirt, letting her hands slide underneath the fabric to caress the smooth skin on the taller girl’s back for a few moments before getting rid of the obtrusive garment completely, undoing the buttons quickly and letting the shirt fall wherever it landed, thankful their kiss didn’t have to be broken in the process.  
  
  
Her fingertips moved up her wife’s back gently until they came into contact with the lacy material of Tara’s bra. One fluid movement caused the hooks to unsnap and Willow pulled the bra from the blonde’s body, letting it join her shirt.  
  
  
A quick roll turned Tara on her back and Willow shrugged the loosened shirt from her body before taking her wife’s hand and placing it on her back. Tara took the hint and released the redhead’s bra. She felt it fall onto her own chest and swiped it away before placing both her palms flat on Willow’s back and pushing her down so their chests thrust together.  
  
  
“Mmmhhh, baby...” Willow moaned breathlessly, throwing her head back and rolling her chest even further into the blonde’s, “Why...pants...why?”  
  
  
“You stopped me last time I tried to take them off,” Tara murmured as she kissed along the smaller girl’s shoulder and into her neck.  
  
  
Willow started grinding her clothed hips into Tara’s in search of some contact.  
  
  
“No one’s stopping you now.”  
  
  
Tara hooked her thumbs into the redhead’s already-undone pants and panties, pushing them down as far as she could before Willow kicked them the rest of the way off. Tara then moved out from under her wife and stood beside the bed.   
  
  
Willow was about to open her mouth to protest but just smiled when she saw the blonde reach behind herself to bring down the zipper on her skirt, the garment falling to the floor in a heap a moment later. Tara wiggled herself free of her panties and stepped out of the clothing around her ankles before climbing back onto the bed and straddling the redhead.  
  
  
“Hi,” Willow said shyly, reaching to clasp both sets of hands together.  
  
  
“Hello,” Tara responded, letting her fingers entwine with her wife’s, “Are you okay?”  
  
  
“Very okay,” Willow replied with a smile, “I’d be even better if your lips were down here.”  
  
  
Tara started to move her body down to lay fully atop the redhead, raising their conjoined hands over their heads in the process.  
  
  
“My lips are here,” she whispered sensually, her eyes a shimmering, darkened blue, “Where exactly would you like them?”  
  
  
Willow felt her breath start to come in heavier gasps as wetness began to spill out onto her thighs.  
  
  
“A-anywhere,” she croaked eventually, “Everywhere.”  
  
  
Tara manoeuvred her hands so she was holding both of Willow’s wrists above their heads with one while the other caressed its way down the redhead’s side.  
  
  
“You’re so very, very beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow sighed softly as warm lips descended on her throat and started moving down towards her collarbone, licking her lips as Tara’s tongue poked out and began stroking her skin in circular motions until she suddenly found her nipple bathed and surrounded by warm wetness and gasped in response.  
  
  
“Oh Tara...” she moaned, her confined arms and body writhing as the blonde’s hand covered her other breast and toyed with her nipple in perfect synch with her mouth’s actions, “Oh god...mmhh...Tara...baby...let me touch you...”  
  
  
Tara released her wife’s wrists and Willow’s hands instantly flew to her wife’s hair, pulling at it momentarily before she dropped them down the blonde's back, caressing and rubbing until they met her ass, cupping her cheeks firmly.  
  
  
Her fingertips dug into the spongy flesh as a series of moans left her mouth and answering ones met her ears. She could feel herself getting more and more aroused with each moment as her wetness built to copious levels.   
  
  
She gently began moving her fingers down until she felt Tara’s own arousal start to coat her fingers and wasted no time in slipping two fingers inside her from behind. She moaned loudly at both the feel and that Tara had bitten down sharply on her nipple in response.  
  
  
With her spare hand, she pulled her wife' head back up to her and flipped them over so she was top again, moving her hand around as quickly as possible and letting her fingers delve as deeply inside her lover as they could possibly go.  
  
  
“Oh god, Tara, you feel incredible,” she groaned as she used her more-strategically-placed hips to put more pressure behind her thrusts and dropped her head to her wife’s breasts.  
  
  
Tara gasped and threw her head back against the pillows, her hands clutching at her the redhead’s back as her legs bent and her knees dug into the skin on Willow’s lower back. She felt herself becoming more and more lost in the indescribable pleasure coursing through her before her wife’s earlier words echoed in her mind and she grabbed a hold of Willow’s shoulders.  
  
  
“Wait, wait. Hold on there, sweetness.”  
  
  
Willow’s hand instantly still and she looked down, panic on her face.  
  
  
“Am I hurting you?”  
  
  
“No,” Tara replied with a reassuring smile, “Of course not. But...we’re making a baby. I just...I want to do this right.”  
  
  
“Tara...” Willow responded with an answering and playfully-brazen smile, “There’s no way to do this ‘wrong’.”  
  
  
Tara gave a slight blush.  
  
  
“I know that,” she said, then grinned with a mixture of mirth and meaning, “But at least let me look you in the eye while I knock you up.”  
  
  
Willow moved her head up to rest their foreheads together, grinning back.  
  
  
“Always the romantic,” she replied in a mock-derisive manner before placing the gentlest of kisses against her wife’s lips, “Make love to me, baby.”  
  
  
Tara brought a hand up and stroked the length of the redhead’s hair before moving back up to trail a single finger down the side of her face. She kept her gaze locked on the glistening green orbs staring down at her as her hand moved slowly between their bodies, fingertips feeling the silken smooth curves of her lover’s body until she arrived at Willow’s molten core.  
  
  
Willow spread her legs on top of the blonde as she felt the long fingers of her wife begin to sink into her and clenched her jaw as they slowly filled her up, completing her fully.  
  
  
They spent several long moments just resting inside one another, feeling the connection of being utterly one with each other until a slow and steady rhythm was started.  
  
  
Neither spoke a word, neither needing to, as their bodies melded into each other, their passion mounted and their love exploded between them, both feeling the other bringing them to a place that only existed for them to express their adoration and devotion to one another.  
  
  
“I love you, Tara,” Willow whispered the only sound to fill the room in quite a while as she felt her soul start to leave her body and begin its final merging with her wife’s.  
  
  
“Always,” Tara just about managed to respond before both women’s inner muscles began to clench simultaneously.  
  
  
When their bodies calmed and both became aware of themselves and their surroundings, Willow moved to cushion her head between Tara’s breasts, her hear position against the blonde’s beating heart as Tara ran her hand along the redhead’s arm.  
  
  
“We did it, Tara,” Willow spoke up after several minutes of comfortable silence, “I can feel it.”  
  
  
When Tara didn’t say anything after a moment, Willow raised her head and looked her wife dead in the eye.  
  
  
“Really, Tara. It’s like...it’s like you just took all your love and mashed it with mine and we made this...this big ball of energy,” she said, resting a hand over her own stomach, “I can feel it here. And that’s what the baby’s gonna grab onto tomorrow, that’s what he or she is gonna cling to. That’s why it’s gonna work.”  
  
  
Tara looked slightly stunned and moved her hand down to rest over Willow’s.  
  
  
“Really?”  
  
  
Willow turned her hand in her wife’s and gave it a squeeze.  
  
  
“I know what are chances are. I know we have to be prepared for things not going our way. But Tara,” she replied, beaming from ear-to-ear, turning Tara’s hand this time so her palm was flat on her stomach, “I _know_ we just made our baby.”  
  
  
Tara started rubbing her wife’s stomach in small circles before pulling herself into a sitting position and replacing her hands with her lips, placing a soft and warm kiss there.  
  
  
Willow felt the warmth in her stomach begin to expand and couldn’t help a quiet moan before speaking in a throaty tone.  
  
  
“You can kiss lower if you want.”  
  
  
Tara raised her head and raised an eyebrow at the redhead.  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked, grinning a shameless grin, “No naked snuggles for two weeks after tomorrow. We need to maximise our time. And, and! The more energy we build tonight, the more the baby’ll have to grab onto tomorrow.”  
  
  
Tara eased Willow onto her back and hovered over her with a smile.  
  
  
“You don’t need to convince me to make love to you.”  
  
  
Willow continued to grin.  
  
  
“So I don’t need to tell you how wet I am for you and how much I want you to drink me dry?”  
  
  
Willow saw the blonde’s eyes widened and looked down pointedly as she smirked. Tara readily took the invitation as she quickly made her way down the redhead’s body.  
  
  
Willow shivered in anticipation as her wife settled between her legs, ready to enjoy their continued night of pleasure for as long as they were both able.   
  
  
_I love her so much..._   
  
  
That was the redhead’s final coherent thought for the next long while as the blonde’s tongue began to slide through her folds.  
  
  
“Tara, yes!”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Tara, sit down.”  
  
  
Tara promptly stopped pacing and sat herself down on the chair next to the bed, ready to comply with whatever request her wife had that morning. She placed her hands on her knees to try and stop them shaking but it was to little avail as they moved up and down in agitation.  
  
  
Willow reached down from where she was laying on the bed in one of the clinic rooms in the clinic, awaiting the arrival of the doctor to start the proceedings. She had been prepped on arrival by Maya and had had a brief discussion with Dr. Wells about how many embryos they wanted to transfer before the doctor left to consult with the embryologist and prepare the embryos for the final stage  
  
  
Willow had been unusually calm throughout it all, while Tara waited nervously, so the redhead pulled at the blonde's wrist and took one of her hands, bringing it up to her mouth, kissing her knuckles.   
  
  
Tara’s legs stopped shaking and she smiled at her wife gratefully for the calming gesture.  
  
  
“I thought I’d be the one calming _you_ down today.”  
  
  
“I’m not worried,” Willow answered with a lot more calmness and serenity that she’d ever experienced while being in the clinic before, “I told you last night. We already did it. Our baby’s already inside me. I can feel it. Now we just need to give him or her, their shell to grow from.”  
  
  
Tara squeezed her wife’s hand and dropped her cheek to rest against the redhead’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Pregnancy suits you already.”  
  
  
Willow leaned her head down and rested it on top of her wife’s while her hand moved to stroke the back of Tara’s head.  
  
  
“You’re not gonna be saying that when the hormones kick in.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly but was stopped from saying anything, her head rising as the door opened and Dr. Wells appeared through it, a warm smile on her face and a red and white container she was holding by the handle hanging by her side, followed by Maya.  
  
  
“Good morning, ladies. Still doing okay?”  
  
  
“Relaxed and ready to be implanted,” Willow replied, smiling as she moved her legs into the metal stirrups at the end of the bed, “Let’s get those things in me.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells laughed as she made her way further into the room and towards the couple.  
  
  
“You don’t need to be in those for another few minutes. And it’s nice to see you so calm about everything, Willow. The more at ease you are, the better. Both for the procedure itself and for getting the desired results.”  
  
  
“Well you can call me Mrs. Tranquillity,” Willow answered as she rested her hands over her stomach, “Ready, cool and composed.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells put the container in her hand on the floor next to the examination table and moved a chair to sit just off to the side from between Willow’s legs as Maya stood behind her. The doctor pulled rubber gloves onto her hands.  
  
  
“What I’m going to do now is run a catheter – a large, plastic tube – up to your uterus. I have another catheter in this container here containing your embryos. That one will be run through the other one and we’ll release the embryos into your uterus. Maya’s going to be helping me by mapping everything by ultrasound. I know you know all this already but it’s no harm to be reminded.”  
  
  
“We appreciate it,” Tara replied, reaching down for Willow’s hand again and giving it squeeze.  
  
  
“We do,” Willow spoke up as well, “Very much.”  
  
  
“But you want to get things rolling,” Dr. Wells replied with a genuine tone, hearing the redhead’s contained but eager tone, “Well we can get right onto it then. Willow, you can put your feet in now.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in understanding as she felt her legs being encouraged into the stirrups and got herself as comfortable as she could. Dr. Wells said something to Maya, who went to retrieve the ultrasound from the corner of the room.  
  
  
“Okay, so let’s get started,” Dr. Wells continued with suitable enthusiasm as she scooted her seat between Willow’s legs, “I’m going to insert a speculum so I can see your cervix clearly, so it might be a little cold and you’ll feel a small stretching.”  
  
  
“I’m ready,” Willow answered before she turned her head towards her wife, “Stop it with the worry face.”  
  
  
“This isn’t my worry face,” Tara replied with a smile, “This is my ‘my wife is amazing and I can’t believe she’s mine’ face.”  
  
  
Willow winced slightly as she felt the speculum being inserted but didn’t take her gaze off of the blonde, adopting a small grin.  
  
  
“And that differs from your normal face how exactly?”  
  
  
Tara leaned forwards and placed her lips lightly against the smaller girl’s before pulling back.  
  
  
“It comes with a kiss.”  
  
  
Willow blushed shyly as Maya appeared by her side.  
  
  
“I’m going to lift your gown so I can start the ultrasound, okay, Willow?”  
  
  
“Go right ahead,” Willow nodded.  
  
  
Maya squirted some jelly onto the redhead's stomach and went about setting up the ultrasound. When the picture was clear and positioned correctly, Dr. Wells spoke up again.  
  
  
“Okay, I’m going to start threading the first catheter now, Willow,” her voice came from below, “I need you to stay as still as you can for the rest of the procedure.”  
  
  
Willow shot Tara a warm and reassuring smile before settling her head back against the small pillow under her head.   
  
  
Dr. Wells was the only one to speak over the next fifteen minutes, outlining what she was about to do before she did it and giving Maya instructions on changing the position of the ultrasound; Tara too tense to speak and Willow just following her instructions to stay as still as possible.  
  
  
Tara knew the procedure was over when she saw Willow’s leg and abdomen muscles relax and saw the doctor hold up the removed catheter a moment later before placing it back in its transport container and handing it to Maya, who had turned off the ultrasound.  
  
  
“Can you bring that down–”   
  
  
“Of course,” Maya replied, understanding without needing to be told, “I’ll be at the nurses’ station in case they call there.  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded in agreement before Maya left the room and she turned back to Willow and Tara.  
  
  
“The catheter just needs to be checked to make sure there were no retained embryos by our embryologist. We’ll have reload and go again if there are.”  
  
  
“Will that decrease our chances at all?” Tara asked worriedly.  
  
  
“Not at all,” the doctor smiled in response, “It’s just to make sure you have every chance possible and that all the embryos are transferred.”  
  
  
“How did things look in there?” Willow piped up before blushing, “Um, I mean...”  
  
  
Dr. Wells couldn't help but laugh.  
  
  
“You’ve got a picture perfect uterus, Willow. You’ve got the best possible chances of conceiving.”  
  
  
Willow gave a definitive nod to herself and smiled when she felt Tara move towards her slightly and warm lips lingering on her temple for several long moments before the shill sound of a ringing phone throughout the room made the blonde jump back slightly.  
  
  
Dr. Wells went over to the phone attached to the wall and picked it up, speaking into it for a few moments before hanging up again.  
  
  
“All clear,” she smiled at the couple before going over to the door again, “Maya, can you come in here please?”  
  
  
The doctor held the door open for a minute before a smiling Maya appeared through it.  
  
  
“We got the all clear. So we just need to get Willow set up for recovery,” Dr. Wells said to Maya, “Page me if there’s any issue.”  
  
  
Maya nodded and the doctor looked like she was going to leave before she walked back towards Willow and Tara.  
  
  
“Everything went as well as it could have gone. There’s nothing you two can do now but wait and relax. Maya’s going to go through the dos and don’ts of the next few days but as I know you’re all too aware, stress is just going to be a hindrance. I know this might sound like the impossible, but try not to think too hard about what’s happening until we know one way or the other about whether it’s been successful.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes for a moment to take in the information and nodded.  
  
  
“We will. Or we’ll try to.”  
  
  
“Thank you so much,” Tara added, “For...all of this.”  
  
  
“My pleasure,” Dr. Wells replied, before a beeping sound came from the waistband of her pants and she looked at the couple apologetically, “I’m sorry, I’m on call at one of the nearby hospitals, I have to go. But remember, you can call us at any stage if you feel something’s just not right.”  
  
  
She sped out of the room then, handing Maya a chart she’d picked up from the side as she did so. The nurse walked over and smiled at the two women.  
  
  
“Okay, Willow, first I need to change your position slightly, is that okay? You can take your legs out of the stirrups.”  
  
  
Willow gently lifted her legs from the metal contraptions and placed them straight on the bed as Maya continued.  
  
  
“I’m just going to adjust the bed so you’re in what we call the Trendelenberg position, so you’re at a tilt. Don’t worry though, you’re secure.”  
  
  
Willow felt the top of the bed being moved downwards slightly so her head was tilted towards the ground and her feet aimed more towards the ceiling.  
  
  
“Are you comfortable?” Maya questioned, “You’ll need to rest like this for the next couple of hours in recovery, so it’s important you’re comfortable.”  
  
  
“I’m comfy,” Willow nodded, “As I can be.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Maya responded before moving around and taking the chair the doctor had sat in, positing it just in front of the couple so she could address them both and sat down, “We’re busy today, so I’ll go through everything we need to in here so nothing’s lost in translation with the noise in the recovery room. Pretty much the basics are; for the next two days: no heavy lifting, no strenuous physical activity, so swimming or baths and no alcohol or smoking. If you’re feeling up to it, you should be fine to go back to work tomorrow, as long as there’s no heavy lifting or anything involved.”  
  
  
“Oh no, I just sit behind a computer all day,” Willow smiled, “Nothing strenuous.”  
  
  
“Great,” Maya replied, “So you’ll have to come back late next week to take blood for a pregnancy test, but until then no intercourse or any activity that would lead to orgasm, the contractions that happen during can cause complications with implantation.”   
  
  
“Okay, that’s manageable,” Willow nodded, having known all of that anyway, before biting the side of her lip, “They won’t...I mean, the embryos, they’re not gonna...fall out or anything, will they?”  
  
  
“Not at all,” Maya reassured, “They can’t fall out. But we do recommend staying as horizontal as possible until tomorrow to increase the chances of them implanting.”  
  
  
“You can be couch potato for the day,” Tara piped up and Maya laughed.  
  
  
“Yes, doctor’s orders. I know it’s a lot to take in, we’ll give you a little fact sheet when you’re leaving so don’t worry about remembering everything. And I know you’ve been told this over and over and over again but keeping stress light is the biggest thing you can do.”  
  
  
“Don’t worry, it will be,” Tara answered before turning to Willow with an easy smile, the last of her tension relieved now that the procedure was over and for all intents and purposes had gone well, “There’s no bills due; the house is in perfect order; should there be an issue with JJ, _I_ will handle it and I have never been more in love with you.”  
  
  
Maya watched, feeling almost as if she was intruding, as the couple just smiled at each other. She pretended to busy herself by looking through the chart Dr. Wells had handed her until she felt the other two’s focus shift back to her.  
  
  
“Do you have any other questions?” she asked cautiously, not wanting to interrupt a moment if the women were still having one.  
  
  
Tara looked towards Willow again who demurely shook her head.  
  
  
“Not right now.”  
  
  
“Well, okay then,” Maya replied, standing up and walking over to the head of Willow’s bed, “Let’s get you moved out of here.”  
  
  
Willow felt the bed begin to move as she was wheeled out of the room. With one hand clasped firmly with Tara’s, she took the other one and placed it over her stomach, barely touching the material of her hospital gown as she focused completely on her body and what was happening inside her for a moment.  
  
  
 _Trust me, little one, you’re gonna wanna stick around. ‘Cause you’ve got just about the best family in the world._


	15. Chapter 15

  
“Tara, does JJ get out of school at 2 or 3?”  
  
  
Tara spun around in her seat to face Michelle who had called out to her from her own desk behind her.  
  
  
“2 on Fridays,” she answered before looking at her aunt gratefully, “Are you sure you and Ira don’t mind taking him for the night?”  
  
  
Michelle smiled and waved her hand in front of her dismissively.  
  
  
“Of course not.”  
  
  
“And if they did, he could hang with Aunty Alice and Uncle Jesse,” Alice piped up from the other side with of the office with a grin, “It’s your anniversary, Tara, you and Willow deserve the night to yourselves. And I’m sure you’ll remember my kindness when our anniversary in June rolls around and you’ll generously offer to take Ella for the night.”  
  
  
“How well you know me,” Tara replied with a playful roll of her eyes.  
  
  
“The wonders of being a good friend,” Alice responded before bringing the cap of the pen up to her mouth, chewing on the end of it as she grinned, “So what dirty details do you have planned for tonight?”  
  
  
“And on that note, I have a grandson to collect,” Michelle said, gathering her purse and coat with considerably speed as a light blush rose on her cheeks, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Tara. Whenever suits is fine to collect him. Don’t...rush.”  
  
  
She trailed off, embarrassed and held her hand up in a wave before rushing off towards the exit.  
  
  
“I keep forgetting she’s your aunt,” Alice piped up with an amused smile.  
  
  
“Yes, and shacked up with my father-in-law, so please keep any references about ‘dirty details’ to yourself,” Tara replied dryly as she turned back towards her computer screen, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to work.”  
  
  
“Killjoy,” Alice muttered jokingly before turning back towards her own computer.  
  
  
Tara tried to concentrate on the report she was trying to write, but found herself quite distracted by the thoughts of her impending evening.   
  
  
In the ten days since Willow had gone through the embryo transfer, both women had been trying their hardest to stick to their pledge of trying to carry on as normal and not stress about things as they waited to know one way or another whether they had been successful, but it was still on the forefront of both of their minds, the anxiousness and worry still there no matter how much they tried to push it aside.  
  
  
The one thing that provided some relief was that Willow had had no complications and everything appeared to be going as textbook as possible. But until they got the phone call to confirm, neither woman was willing to pin all their hopes on the possibility.  
  
  
Willow had been in the doctor’s office the morning before for the blood tests, but was told it would probably be Monday before they would be told since there was a backlog at the lab.   
  
  
But both women had solemnly promised that for their anniversary that evening that they would be anxiety and trouble-free and celebrate the day like it deserved to be celebrated.   
  
  
They had reservations at a nice restaurant in the city and didn’t have to worry about JJ, who was more than happy to spend the night at his grandparents’, so they could have the night to themselves.  
  
  
They still had to adhere to their lovemaking restriction but both were happy just to look forward to having the comfort of alone one-on-one time with each other for the whole evening.  
  
  
“I know that smile,” Alice’s voice broke Tara from her thoughts, “That’s an ‘I’m getting lucky tonight’ smile.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head towards her friend and rolled her eyes again.  
  
  
“No, it’s an ‘I’m looking forward to an evening with my wife’ smile,” she answered, before feeling her smile getting even wider as she looked down at her wedding ring, “My beautiful wife who I’ve been married to for six wonderful years.”  
  
  
Tara let images of her wife flash before her eyes for a few moments before the feeling of something hitting against her chest pulled her from her daze. She looked down just in time to see a pen fall by her feet and then looked over at Alice.  
  
  
“What?” Alice asked, the epitome of innocence, “I had to pull you away from Willow-land.”  
  
  
“And throwing office supplies was clearly the only way to do that,” Tara replied with a playful smirk, “But thank you. I really do need to get this report finished.”  
  
  
Alice smiled in understanding before she too went back into work mode.  
  
  
“When you’re done, could I grab you for a consult? A new case came in yesterday and I need to hash out some ideas.”  
  
  
Tara nodded.  
  
  
“Give me thirty minutes and I’m all yours.”  
  
  
Both women turned back towards their desks and returned to work, Tara focusing on working as quickly as possible in the hopes of maybe finishing early. Her wish was granted later on in the afternoon when Alice, after bouncing some ideas off of Tara and starting on the care plan for her new case, offered to cover her for her for the rest of the day.  
  
  
“You’re a sweetheart, Al,” Tara said as she wrapped her scarf around her neck and threw her purse over her shoulder, “Thank you.”  
  
  
“No problem,” Alice replied with a genuine smile, “Have a good evening. Happy anniversary.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara repeated with a small wave as she left the offices.  
  
  
She made her way to the carpark and found her car, getting in and turning the engine on before she started the short journey home. She pulled the car up in their driveway, smiling when she saw Willow’s Merc already sitting there.  
  
  
Before she got out of the car, she used the rearview mirror to freshen up her make-up, applying a generous amount of lipstick to her lips, plumping them up the way she knew Willow liked.  
  
  
When she was satisfied with her appearance she stepped out of the car, wondering if she might be able to sneak upstairs to change into some nicer attire before Willow realised she was home, and quietly opened the front door with her key, closing it carefully behind her.  
  
  
She listened for a moment to see if she could discern exactly which part of the house her wife was in and looked towards the staircase in confusion when she heard a muffled sound coming from upstairs.  
  
  
 _Is that...? Is she crying?_  
  
  
She dropped her purse to the floor and flew up the stairs, turning the corner into their bedroom, skidding to an alarmed halt when she saw Willow lying on her side on their bed in just a bra and an expensive skirt that Tara knew she only wore on special occasions.  
  
  
Willow’s odd attire wasn’t something the blonde was paying too much attention to though; she was much more concerned with that fact that her wife was clinging to a pillow, her face obscured as she buried her head into it; quiet but clear sobbing sounds coming through.  
  
  
Tara stood helplessly still for a moment before snapping to attention and rushed over to the other side of the bed, moving to lie on it and curling her body around Willow’s, cradling her front to the redhead’s back and wrapping her arm comfortingly around her waist.  
  
  
“It’s okay, I’m here now,” she soothed gently, “I’m here.”  
  
  
“Th...the...the...” Willow tried to speak but only half-words came out through hiccups and sobs, “Th-they c-c-called.”  
  
  
Tara moved her lips to the back of her wife’s head and let a kiss linger there, too preoccupied with consoling Willow to think too much about her words.   
  
  
“Who called, sweetheart?”  
  
  
“T-the c-cl-clinic.”  
  
  
Tara felt her whole body stiffen as her heart instantly shattered into a million pieces. The clinic had called.   
  
  
And Willow was crying uncontrollably.   
  
  
Which meant it hadn’t worked, the pregnancy hadn’t taken.   
  
  
She quickly pushed her own heartbreak aside, blinking away the teas that had started to form in her eyes and tried to make her voice sound as reassuring as possible.  
  
  
“It’s okay,” she spoke quietly into Willow’s ear, her voice breaking with emotion despite her best efforts, “It’s okay. We can try again. We can try again, Willow. Our chances go up with each cycle. Okay? I love you. I love you and you’re beautiful and we’re going to have our baby.”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes to try and make herself believe her own words, repeating ‘we’ll have our baby’ into her wife’s ear but quickly opened them again when she felt Willow turn in her arms, confusion washing over her face when she saw the redhead had a smile plastered on her features as the tears still flowed freely down her cheeks.  
  
  
Willow brought her hand up and cupped Tara’s cheek, her smile getting wider.  
  
  
“I know we are.”  
  
  
Tara, thinking she’d succeeded in restored the hope in her wife, forced a smile onto her face.  
  
  
“That’s right, sweetheart, we’re just gonna keep trying until-”  
  
  
“No, Tara,” Willow cut the blonde off with one of the most joy-filled tones Tara had ever heard. She moved her hand off of her wife’s face and entwined their fingers, bringing Tara’s hand down over her stomach, “I know we are.”  
  
  
Tara looked down at her resting hand, her brow furrowing in confusion before her eyes suddenly widened in a mixture of shock and renewed hope.  
  
  
“Are...are you saying...you’re...are we...?”  
  
  
“Having a baby,” Willow choked out as fresh tears sprung from her eyes, “I’m pregnant.”  
  
  
Tara blinked repeatedly in quick succession as she tried to process her wife’s words.   
  
  
“Y-you are?” she asked after a moment, feeling her heart quickly rebuilding itself and swelling with excitement, “But they said we wouldn’t know until Monday.”  
  
“They put a rush order on it,” Willow answered, before taking a hold of the back of her wife’s neck and bringing her down so their foreheads rested together, “Tara, I’m pregnant. I’m really pregnant.”  
  
  
Tara stared into her wife’s green depths for a few moments before she burst into laughter and dropped her mouth to press their lips together in a series of small but sweet kisses.  
  
  
“You scared me half to death, sweetheart,” she said as her kisses trailed across her wife’s cheek and upwards, “Why on earth are you crying?”  
  
  
“Because I’ve never been as happy as I am right now,” Willow answered, responding in kind when another soft kiss was placed on her lips, “Because I love you and our family more than anything.”  
  
  
Tara felt a lump of emotion rise in her throat and pushed her hand more firmly against her wife’s stomach.  
  
  
“I’m not dreaming, right?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head, her tears having dried up but the broad grin still plastered on her face.  
  
  
“Are you sure?” Tara asked, smiling like a small child who’d just discovered birthday cake, “Because you’re not wearing a top and that’s how a lot of my dreams start.”  
  
  
Willow burst into giddy giggles.  
  
  
“I was getting changed for tonight when the phone rang,” she explained softly before covering Tara’s hand with her own and rubbing it over her stomach, “There’s a baby in there.”  
  
  
“A baby,” Tara replied in an awed tone, “Our baby.”  
  
  
Willow watched the raw emotion cross over her wife’s face before the blonde suddenly moved and she felt lips caressing her naked stomach as Tara lay alongside her.  
  
  
“Hi, little one,” Tara’s love-filled voice broke the silence in the room after a few minutes, “Hi. It’s your mommy.”  
  
  
Willow moved her hand up to stroke he wife’s hair as the blonde continued to address her stomach.  
  
  
“You’re just a teeny tiny thing right now, aren’t you? But I love you so much,” Tara crooned before shuffling up in the bed and splaying just the tops of her fingers against her wife’s cheek, “And I love your momma...so much.”  
  
  
Willow felt the tip of Tara’s nose move against her own for a few moments and almost leaned in for a kiss before suddenly pushing herself back so she was sitting on her heels and let out a squeal as it suddenly all hit her.  
  
  
“Tara, we’re having a baby!”  
  
  
“I know,” Tara replied, giggling as her wife started bouncing up and down on her knees.  
  
  
“Another baby!” Willow started to gush, her hands gesturing wildly around her, looking more than a little ridiculous in just her bra and skirt, “Another little you and me! And it’s growing inside me right now! Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?”  
  
  
“I don’t know,” Tara answered, beaming at her wife’s elation and feeling it in kind as well, “As long as he or she is healthy, I don’t care.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head slightly.  
  
  
“Me either.”  
  
  
The women shared their matching wild grins for a few moments before Tara took a hold of the redhead’s waist and tugged her down, Willow landing on top of her so their faces were just inches apart. Tara started to rub her hands lightly against her wife’s hips.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
“Thank you for giving him or her to me,” Willow replied softly before her eyes fluttered closed, “I can’t believe this is really happening. Our chances were so small, I’m scared it’s not really-”  
  
  
“Willow,” Tara cut her wife off gently, “When the doctor called, did she say the words ‘you’re pregnant’?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow nodded, her eyes opening again, “A few times.”  
  
  
Tara brought one hand up and tucked a piece of hair behind the redhead’s ear.  
  
  
“She wouldn’t have said it if she wasn’t 100% sure.”  
  
  
A small smile creeped onto Willow’s face and her body started to bounce again.  
  
  
“We’re having a baby!”  
  
  
Willow started squealing and giggling with unadulterated joy and excitement, bouncing around the bed to the sound of Tara’s delighted laughter until she eventually flopped back down onto the bed beside her wife and wrapped an arm around her waist as she settled her head beneath the blonde’s chin.  
  
  
Tara’s hand came up to stroke her wife’s hair as they both lay in silence, giddy grins plastered on both of their faces, until Willow broke the quiet several minutes later.  
  
  
“Happy Anniversary, Tara.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her lips against the top of her wife’s hair.  
  
  
“Happy Anniversary, Willow,” she whispered before moving her hand down the redhead’s arm and onto her stomach, “And happy day-we-found-out-about-you, little one.”  
  
  
“Pretty amazing anniversary present, huh?” Willow asked in a soft tone, “I bought you earrings but they seem kinda trivial now.”  
  
  
“There’s a necklace for you in my nightstand,” Tara replied as she rubbed her hand over her wife’s belly, “But you’re right, jewellery’s nothing compared to the new life we made.”  
  
  
Willow turned her head into the blonde’s chest and started kissing along the skin revealed by the v-shaped slit of Tara’s shirt, up her throat and over her chin before pressing their lips firmly together.  
  
  
“Do you still want to go to the restaurant?” Willow asked softly, pulling back just an inch.  
  
  
Tara thought for a moment before nodding.  
  
  
“Let’s go out and celebrate.”  
  
  
Willow smiled in agreement.  
  
  
“Only if I can wear my new necklace.”  
  
  
Tara grinned.  
  
  
“If I can wear my new earrings.”  
  
  
“Deal,” Willow replied, placing another kiss on her wife’s lips.  
  
  
Tara sucked the redhead’s bottom lip into her mouth and sucked softly as she slowly rolled them to the other side of the bed. She let her tongue poke out and taste her wife’s lips for a just a moment before she sat back on her heels and reached over to her nightstand, pulling the drawer open, producing a large, square jewellery box, which she popped open and held in front of Willow.  
  
  
Willow sat herself up on her elbows to look more closely at the contents, picking up the chain that was looped around the box and putting two fingers over the circular pendant hanging the end, a solid light pink gem encased in the middle, surrounding by swirling colours of dark green and dark orange, making it pop.  
  
  
“Aww, Tara, it’s so pretty,” she said with a smile, running her thumb over the smooth, polished material of the pendant.  
  
  
“Do you like it?” Tara asked shyly, “I got it specially made.”  
  
  
“You did?” Willow asked, looking up with question in her eyes.  
  
  
Tara picked the necklace up from its box completely and held it up by the chain, the pendant flat against her palm.  
  
  
“The pink is rose quartz,” she started to explain, “It promotes fertility. Kind of a moot point now that I knocked ya up on the first try.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and Tara just grinned before continuing.  
  
  
“The green is emerald. It encourages prosperity,” she said, running a single finger around the pendant, “And the orange is amber. It’s supposed to bring about fulfilment of desires.”  
  
  
“Well it’s clearly worked, even if it was just in its box,” Willow remarked, smiling, “I love it, baby. Thank you.”  
  
  
She sat up fully and brushed her lips against Tara’s before slipping off the bed and standing up, her back facing her wife as she gathered her hair up. Tara turned and stood behind the redhead, wrapping the chain around her neck and fastening it. Willow let her hair fall back around her shoulders before turning to face Tara.  
  
  
“How does it look?”  
  
  
“Beautiful,” Tara replied, adjusting the chain just slightly, “You’re always beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow beamed and turned her head to the side to regard her new accessory in the mirror that was on the wall opposite from where she was standing before noticing that Tara seemed to be transfixed on the necklace too.  
  
  
Or rather, just a tiny bit lower.   
  
  
She grinned and cleared her throat.  
  
  
“Are you staring at my boobs?”  
  
  
Tara’s head shot up, a guilty look on her face.  
  
  
“Willow, you’re not wearing a top, I don’t know what you expect me to do,” she replied defensively and with a blush.  
  
  
Willow chuckled and walked over to the closet, taking out the deep red blouse, which she’d been about to put on earlier when the phone had rung earlier, and slipped it over her shoulders.  
  
  
“Take away the temptation,” she said as she walked over the corner of the room and picked up her purse, rooting through it and palming something before turning back to Tara with a grin, “For now anyway. Now that our ban is lifted, I plan on ravishing you all night. And Happy Anniversary, baby. We, uh, kinda had a similar idea.”  
  
  
Tara looked quizzical as Willow held out a small box to her. She retracted the lid and smiled softly when she saw two shiny silver earrings, shaped like a triquetra but with the either side of the top loops made to look like a woman was holding out her arms to embrace a child.  
  
  
“It’s called The Celtic Mothers Knot,” Willow explained, picking up one of the earrings from the box and moving to slip into her wife’s ear, “I got them because I wanted you to know how wonderful a mother you are to the child we have...”  
  
  
She picked up the second earring and started to put it in the other side.  
  
  
“The child we’re going to have...” she continued softly as she put a hand on either side of her wife’s shoulder and smiled up at her, “And any more we happen to be blessed with.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara replied, wrapping her arms around her wife’s waist and pulling their bodies together.  
  
  
“You’re welcome,” Willow answered, playing with the ends of her wife’s hair, “Will you wear that little black dress you bought last summer tonight? You know the one...it hugs your butt all tight and gives you cleavage that makes me melt into a very large Willow-puddle?”  
  
  
“Anything for my pregnant wife,” Tara replied sweetly.  
  
  
“Pregnant wife,” Willow repeated in amazement before a face-splitting smile broke out on her face, “Well, your pregnant wife is going to finish getting ready and will meet you downstairs.”  
  
  
Tara smiled in agreement and Willow quickly kissed her before turning on her heels and making her way into the bathroom to apply her make-up for the evening.  
  
  
A brush of blusher along her cheekbones a few minutes later and twirling the ends of her hair in towards her face finished her preparations as she took a look in the mirror and smiled.  
  
  
“And now to make my breath minty-fresh,” she said to herself as she picked up her toothbrush, “There’s gonna be lots of smooching tonight.”  
  
  
She hummed quietly as her hand moved in steady strokes up and down until she was satisfied with her teeth’s cleanliness. She replaced her toothbrush beside the sink and started to make her way downstairs, a noticeable skip in her step as she walked into the living room and sunk down into the sofa, ready to wait for Tara to join her.  
  
  
She picked up the copy of Reader’s Digest that was lying on the coffee table in front of her and flicked through for a little while before tossing it onto the sofa beside her boredom. It bounced off one of the cushions and fell to the floor.   
  
  
Willow went to pick it up, but stopped as her hand brushed against the cushion in the process. She looked at it curiously for a moment before taking it in her hands and holding it against her stomach for a moment, then lifting her shirt and tucking it underneath the fabric completely.  
  
  
“Wow,” she said with a small giggle as she ran tapped her fingers against the bulge.  
  
  
“How long was I up there?” Tara’s voice came a moment later, causing Willow to snap her head around to see her wife grinning.  
  
  
“Just experimenting,” Willow blushed, pulling the cushion out and readjusting it back against the sofa, “I imagine when I’m really that big it’ll feel less like a fluffy mesh of cotton and more like a little human is stretching my insides.”  
  
  
Tara smiled walked further into the room.  
  
  
“I imagine so.”  
  
  
Willow was about to say something else when she turned her attention back to her wife and saw her in her full attire. She stood up and slowly exhaled, walking over to Tara and placing a hand either side of her hips.  
  
  
“Commence melting,” she said, her eyes roaming up and down the blonde’s body, “You look beautiful...and elegant...and graceful...and...beautiful.”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow.  
  
  
“You already said beautiful.”  
  
  
“Oh right,” Willow replied, knocking the side of her head with her hand, “Instead of the second ‘beautiful’, I meant ‘boobilicious’.”  
  
  
Tara started to laugh and Willow smiled softly before shaking her head.  
  
  
“No, I meant beautiful. I can’t say the word enough times to convey just how beautiful you really are.”  
  
  
“And now you’re making me blush,” Tara replied, ducking her head self-consciously, “Are you ready to go?”  
  
  
Willow nodded and started to walk out of the living room.  
  
  
“I just need to grab my purse from our bedroom.”  
  
  
“I brought it down for you,” Tara replied, following the redhead into the foyer.  
  
  
“Oh, thank you,” Willow responded, seeing her purse sitting against the edge of the coat-rack and picking it up, “In that case I am more than ready.”  
  
  
Both women shrugged their jackets over their shoulders and secured them to keep warm in the cold November air before making their way to the Mercedes, Willow driving them out of the suburbs they lived in and to the city, finding a parking space not too far from the restaurant they had reservations in and walking inside where the male maître d’ greeted them and asked for their name.  
  
  
“Rosenberg-Maclay,” Willow answered before turning her head to Tara, “Do you want to sit outside? I know it’s chilly but-”  
  
  
“Our outdoor area is kept warm by open-air heaters,” the maître d’ interrupted, “And is locked in by surrounding bamboo fences.”  
  
  
Willow grinned at Tara and pretended to look impressed.  
  
  
“Have you got a rock wall that cascades water?” she asked the maître d’, looking completely serious, “I can only digest food to the sound of flowing water.”  
  
  
The maître d’ looked bewildered and started flicking through his reservation book as if it might give him an answer.  
  
  
“I..we, um...there’s...”  
  
  
“An outdoor table would be wonderful,” Tara spoke up, saving the flustered man, “If you have one.”  
  
  
“O-of course,” the maître d’ replied, clearing his throat and retrieving two menus from a small table beside him, “Just this way.”  
  
  
Tara cast a sidelong glance at her wife and shook her head playfully as they were led through the restaurant and to an outdoor area in the back, simple oak furniture dotted around the place, most of the tables filled with people already. The maître d’ brought them to a round table with a chair position either side and pulled each out for the women to sit in.  
  
  
“I’ll send your server right over,” he said, giving them their menus before scurrying off as fast as his legs could carry him.  
  
  
As he disappeared back through the opened doors to the main restaurant, Tara put her menu down on the table and quirked her eyebrows at her wife.  
  
  
“Teasing restaurant staff now, are we?”  
  
  
“He was asking for it,” Willow giggled, perusing the menu before putting on an affected accent, “We have outdoor heaters and wonderful bamboo fencing. Our furniture was hand-crafted by blind nuns in Africa and our plants are kept alive by water taken from mountain springs that we have specially shipped in from the Himalayas.”  
  
  
Willow heard her wife begin to laugh and smiled in response but didn’t lift her gaze from the menu until she felt eyes burning into her and looked up quizzically, seeing Tara staring at her with a small grin.  
  
  
“Is there something on my face?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.  
  
  
“Apart from beauty?” Tara asked before she reached across the table and entwined their hands gently, “It’s just nice to see you so relaxed.”  
  
  
“It’s nice to feel relaxed,” Willow answered with more than a hint of a smile, “We managed to get pregnant so quickly, I don’t know how people manage when it takes them years and years.”   
  
  
Tara stroked her thumb along the back of her wife’s hand.  
  
  
“But we don’t have to worry about that.”   
  
  
Willow nodded, her smile widening.  
  
  
“You’re right. Tonight’s about us and celebrating our marriage and family,” she replied before picking up the menu again, “And on that note, what’s the most expensive champagne they have?”  
  
  
Tara’s eyebrows shot up.  
  
  
“Um...Willow...”  
  
  
“Not for me,” Willow replied with a laugh, hearing her wife’s tone, “For you.”  
  
  
“I don’t mind giving up alcohol with you,” Tara answered after a moment, “We don’t really drink that much anyway.”  
  
  
“That’s sweet, baby,” Willow replied with a shake of her head, “But I want you to be able to enjoy a drink without worrying about me.”  
  
  
Tara seemed hesitant but eventually gave a small nod, just as a tall, blonde woman in a neat uniform of a white shirt and short, black skirt came over to their table with a smile.  
  
  
“Hi, I’m Jessica, I’ll be your waitress this evening,” she greeted warmly, “Can I get you some drinks?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow replied, flashing her teeth as she smiled, “We’ll have a bottle of your nicest champagne.”  
  
  
“Um, we’ll have a glass of it, please,” Tara said quickly, “And a mid-range variety is fine. And a glass of apple cider.”  
  
  
“No problem,” Jessica replied with a nod of her head, “I’ll be right back.”  
  
  
She retreated and Tara shook her head at Willow with a playful smile.  
  
  
“Willow, this is a 5 star restaurant, their nicest champagne is probably thousands of dollars. Even a glass is probably thousands of dollars.”  
  
  
“We do have a baby on the way,” Willow mused with a grin, “I suppose we shouldn’t be too liberal with the cash.”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara replied before giving a low chuckle, “Have you decided what you want to eat yet?”  
  
  
“Hmm...” Willow responded, looking up and down the menu, “Well, I can’t have the pâté...or any seafood...the cheese board is out...”  
  
  
Jessica returned a few moments later and placed two flutes of sparkling liquid down on the table, one decidedly clearer than the other.  
  
  
“Are you ready to order?” she asked pleasantly, retrieving a small notebook from her breast pocket.  
  
  
“Um, yea,” Willow answered first, “I will have the...sizzling fillet of beef.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Jessica replied, scribbling on her notepad, “And how would you like that cooked?”  
  
  
“Rar–” Willow started to reply automatically before quickly shaking her head, “No, no, definitely not rare. Well done. Very well done. It needs to be really, really cooked. Like, burnt. So that all the bacteria is gone. Completely. Maybe beef is too risky. Maybe I should get something else. I could get pasta. Pasta’s safe, right? Wait, homemade pasta has egg in it, I don’t think I’m supposed to eat–”  
  
  
“Willow, calm,” Tara said quietly across the table, squeezing the hand still encased in hers, “Getting beef won’t do the baby any harm.”  
  
  
“You’re pregnant,” Jessica said suddenly with a warm smile, “I can notify the chef and make sure the beef is thoroughly cooked.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara said to the server, “We’d appreciate it. And, uh, I’ll have the honey roasted duck.”  
  
  
Jessica started to scribble again before turning on her heels to leave.  
  
  
“Okay, that was my requisite freak-out,” Willow exhaled slowly as the waitress left.  
  
  
“A very small one considering it’s you,” Tara replied with a grin before picking up her glass of champagne, “Shall we toast?”  
  
  
Willow picked up her own glass and nodded.  
  
  
“Yes. To you...for...for being my life.”  
  
  
“And to you,” Tara replied, “For giving us life.”  
  
  
Willow smiled demurely and clinked her glass against her wife’s.  
  
  
“To us.”  
  
  
“To us,” Tara echoed before they each took a long sip from their glasses.  
  
  
Their evening passed as they talked and ate, their hands staying clasped together until they had to break apart to eat. They unintentionally began playing footsie with each other then, needing to be touching each other in some way.  
  
  
The need for contact lasted the entire night, Tara’s hand covering Willow’s on the gearstick in the car at the end of the night as they drove home and Willow’s arms snaking around Tara’s waist to hold her as they walked from their driveway up to their house.  
  
  
“I cannot wait,” Willow murmured as she started trailing her lips along the blonde’s neck, “To get you out of that dress.”  
  
  
Tara tilted her neck to the side slightly as she rooted through her purse for her keys.  
  
  
“I thought you said you liked it on me.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her hand down her wife’s side and started bunching the fabric of her dress upwards, splaying her fingers out against Tara’s pantyhose-clad thigh.  
  
  
“I like it even more off you.”  
  
  
Tara closed her hand around her keys and quickly went about opening the door, pulling Willow through it and dropping her purse onto the floor. Willow’s followed a moment later as the redhead kicked the door closed, their jackets finding a home, thrown carelessly onto the floor just a few moments later.  
  
  
Their lips came together fervently as Tara started walking them backwards, towards and up the stairs. When her foot lifted off the top step, her hands went to Willow’s shirt, pulling the hem from her pants before deftly starting to undo the buttons.  
  
  
The garment was abandoned on the floor in the hallway a few seconds later as Willow shrugged it over her shoulders before stepping out of her skirt as Tara tugged the material down so it fell to her ankles. She quickly kicked off her shoes as they turned into their bedroom before moving her hands to her wife’s back and she pulled back from the kiss.  
  
  
“What did I say about getting you out of this dress?”  
  
  
“That you couldn’t wait,” Tara replied breathlessly.  
  
  
Willow grinned.  
  
  
“Oh yea.”  
  
  
She yanked the zipper on the dress downwards and pulled at the front of the material, letting it fall to the floor and subconsciously licking her lips with a moan when she saw Tara was wearing a matching ruby-red bra and panty set.  
  
  
“Oh baby...” she muttered as she trailed a single finger along the outer swell of her wife’s breasts and dipped it between her cleavage, “As pretty as this is...it needs to go too.”  
  
  
A quick flick of her fingers loosened the front clasp before her hands pushed the fabric out of the way and she greedily cupped Tara’s generous breasts.  
  
  
Tara’s head lolled back slightly, her shoulders inadvertently shrugging back in the process which made her bra fall from her body.  
  
  
“You are so sexy,” Willow moaned as she felt her wife’s nipples hardening against her palm.   
  
  
She idly toyed with the hardening peaks, alternating between soft and hard pressures before placing her palm flat on Tara’s chest and pushed her back onto the bed. She climbed onto the mattress with the blonde and took a hold of her hips, pulling her wife down the bed so she was forced to bend her knees upwards and place her feet on either of her shoulders. She used the blonde’s position to drag her panties from her body, throwing them over her shoulder.  
  
  
“Mmhh...” she moaned as she ran her hands up and down Tara’s thighs, her eyes shamelessly roaming her body, “I want you...”  
  
  
Tara grinned and used her toes to push the straps of the redhead’s bra down on either side. Willow took the hint and reached behind herself to undo the hooks, throwing the piece of clothing onto the floor before snapping the elastic on her underwear with a smirk.  
  
  
“Think you can get these off without using your hands too?”  
  
  
Tara’s grin got wider and she started to drag her feet down her wife’s arms slowly before settling them just above her hips. She concentrated as she hooked her big toe either side into the waistband of Willow’s panties and yanked them downwards.  
  
  
Willow would have been impressed, but was too transfixed by the sight of her wife’s writhing hips as she went about her task; Tara’s thighs stretching outwards and revealing her glistening pink core in all its glory.  
  
  
“Do I get a prize?” Tara’s voice snapped her from her reverie a moment later.  
  
  
“Huh?” Willow asked before glancing down and seeing her panties around her knees, “Oh. Oh, wow. That’s, um, impressive. You can have...um, you can have...”  
  
  
Tara suddenly pushed herself up into a sitting position, using one hand to pull Willow’s panties completely off her body while the other went to cup her wife’s cheek.  
  
  
“I’ll take you.”  
  
  
Willow looked down at Tara’s plump lips before dragging her gaze back to her wife’s eyes.  
  
  
“Yes. Take me.”  
  
  
Willow moaned softly as she felt her wife’s lips start to brush against her throat, barely-noticeable caresses that sent flutterings to her heart and down to her core. She gasped as she felt Tara’s tongue begin to seep into her kisses as she moved further down her chest and couldn’t help the loud groan that escaped her as the blonde began circling her breasts.  
  
  
She leant back on her hands to give Tara all the access she wanted and moved her legs to wrap around her wife’s waist to keep her steady.  
  
  
“T-Tara,” she moaned as teeth grazed her nipple and sent shockwaves through her, “Mmhhh...”  
  
  
Tara suckled on her wife’s flesh greedily and started moaning as well as she felt Willow’s lower half start to grind against her, leaving a wet trail on her stomach. Keeping one hand securely against Willow’s lower back, she moved the other around and dipped her fingers between the redhead’s folds, letting them glide against her puffy lips.  
  
  
Willow groaned again and started rolling her hips, sighing in satisfaction when Tara let her fingers push up against her engorged clit and rubbed over the throbbing tip.   
  
  
“Oh my...” she got out before cutting herself off with a gasp as she felt the blonde’s fingers sink lower and thrust inside her, “Oh Taraaa...”  
  
  
She secured her ankles more firmly against her wife’s back and pushed her back upwards, taking a hold of Tara’s cheeks and pulling her into a steamy kiss. Their tongues began duelling, switching between their mouths with unrestrained passion until Tara suddenly and unexpectedly felt two fingers fill her up and threw her head back with a silent cry.  
  
  
Willow could feel their hands brushing against each other as they thrusted deeply inside one another, their hips grinding together in a steady rhythm. She watched in rapture as a bead of sweat started to form on Tara’s collarbone, before starting a swift descent downwards.  
  
  
She dropped her head to secure the droplet on her tongue just as it fell between her wife’s breasts and let her tongue trace its path back up her wife’s chest, twisting around her collarbone before swirling up her neck and to her ear, licking the curve of her lobe.  
  
  
“I’m coming, baby,” she whispered into the blonde’s ear as she felt the tension coiling in her stomach begin to break, “Come with me.”  
  
  
“Mmmhhh, yes,” Tara moaned in response, keeping her arm tight around the smaller girl’s waist but dropping her hand so she could caress her butt cheek, “Yes...”  
  
  
Willow started pumping her hips more forcefully against Tara’s hand as she felt the motions on her butt encouraging her and curled her fingers inside her wife, hitting the rough patch she was looking for at her first aim.  
  
  
“Willow!” Tara called out loudly, her whole body jerking to a halt except for a small tremble that started in her neck and worked its way down.  
  
  
Willow felt a gush of juices fall down her wrist and fluttered her eyes closed as her own release followed, a warm ecstasy filling her being and making her drop her forehead against her wife’s shoulder with a gasp.  
  
  
They stayed still in that position, locked together and lost in a mutual high until Tara flopped back down against the bed, taking Willow with her, who landed with her head firmly nestled between her wife’s breasts.  
  
  
She manoeuvred herself so her ear was pressed against Tara’s furiously-beating heart and just rested there until she felt her body begin to calm. When she felt able to move and heard her wife’s heartbeat start to slow, she trailed a lazy path of kisses up to Tara’s lips.  
  
  
“Love you,” she mumbled between soft kisses.  
  
  
“I love you, too,” Tara replied as Willow moved off of her but quickly cuddled into her side, “That was amazing.”  
  
  
“It was,” Willow agreed, murmuring a quiet approval as Tara began rubbing her back, “Perfect end to the perfect anniversary.”  
  
  
Tara let her fingers dig lightly into her wife’s back in a relaxing motion and smiled.  
  
  
“And just think, by our next one, we’ll have a whole new member of our family to celebrate with.”


	16. Chapter 16

  
Tara struggled against consciousness, not wanting to leave the warm refuge of her slumber, but eventually couldn’t help her brain taking control and making her open her eyes.  
  
  
She soon forgave her mind for pulling her from sleep though, as she felt the warmth she had been so intent on staying it was still surrounding her; now just taking the physical form of Willow’s naked body draped across her, an arm strewn lazily across her breasts and one leg nestled firmly between both of Tara’s.  
  
  
She didn’t bother looking at the clock to check the time, not particularly caring, but figured it was some time in the mid to late morning, knowing they kept each other up well into the wee hours catching up on the lost days they’d had whilst waiting to find out if the IVF had been successful.  
  
  
Thoughts and images of the night before wafted through Tara’s mind but she continued to be preoccupied as she looked down at Willow in wonder.  
  
  
 _Pregnant. She’s really pregnant. Having my baby._  
  
  
Without realising, her arms tightened around her wife, holding on to her for dear life, needing to release the build up of emotion she was feeling in her heart.  
  
  
Willow felt a deep sense of relaxation as her mind hazily started to make its journey to full wakefulness, letting her senses adjust by giving her gentle and momentary sparks of consciousness before letting her slip back into slumber.  
  
  
That gentle passage was quickly disturbed though as her eyes flew open in a panic when she felt as if something was trying to squeeze the air completely from her lungs. Her eyes darted around herself in alarm before she realised she was nestled against her wife and not being crushed to death.  
  
  
Although if Tara didn’t let go soon, it might not be far off.   
  
  
“Tara...” Willow’s stifled and shocked voice managed to speak a moment later, “Can’t...breathe...”  
  
  
Tara threw her hands up in the air, surprised and Willow lifted her chest slightly, taking a huge lungful of air.  
  
  
“I’m so sorry,” Tara said apologetically, “I didn’t mean...”  
  
  
“To try and kill me in my sleep?” Willow asked breathlessly with a small grin, “For future reference, I prefer to be woken up with kisses.”  
  
  
“Sorry,” Tara repeated, not having realised quite how intensely she’d been hugging the redhead, “I didn’t hurt you did I? I just woke up really happy and–”  
  
  
“Wanted a squeeze?” Willow cut her wife off with a giggle, “Don’t worry about it. Although I do like to be made up to with kisses to.”  
  
  
Tara finally smiled and went to cup the back of her wife’s head.  
  
  
“You can have as many as you’d like.”  
  
  
Willow beamed and shuffled up the bed until they were face-to-face, letting their noses nuzzle together for a few moments before she pressed her lips sweetly against Tara’s.  
  
  
Tara smiled into the kiss and was about to gently suck the redhead’s bottom lip into her mouth when Willow suddenly pulled back and jumped off the bed, bolting from the bedroom.   
  
  
Tara looked towards the door in shock before hearing retching sounds coming from the bathroom and jumped up as well, grabbing her robe from the back of the door and throwing it on, also grabbing Willow’s and running into the bathroom where the redhead was hunched over the toilet bowl.  
  
  
Tara knelt down and put her wife’s robe over her naked form to keep her warm before reaching around and starting a light rubbing motion on her stomach. Willow murmured an approval but continued to retch for several minutes before tentatively raising her head.  
  
  
“Was the kiss that bad?” Tara asked when she saw the forlorn look on her wife’s face and heard Willow give a small, weary laugh, before self-consciously wiping her mouth.  
  
  
“I didn’t think morning sickness would start so soon.”  
  
  
Tara continued rubbing Willow’s stomach and kissed the top of her head.  
  
  
“Would you like to go back to bed?”  
  
  
“No,” Willow shook her head, “I should get used to dealing with it.”  
  
  
She sunk her body back against Tara’s before looking up at her wife with hopeful eyes.  
  
  
“Will you make me some tea?”  
  
  
“Of course I will,” Tara replied, dropping a kiss on the side of her wife’s cheek, “Do you want to run a bath and I’ll bring you some up?”  
  
  
Willow smiled gratefully.  
  
  
“That sounds great.”  
  
  
Tara gave the redhead’s tummy a final rub before straightening up and leaving the bathroom. She heard flowing water start to fill the tub as she made her way down the stairs and went about making the mint green tea that Willow liked, letting the teabag infuse with the water for a few minutes before discarding it and bringing the steaming mug upstairs.  
  
  
“Here you go, my love,” she said, walking back into the bathroom to see Willow reclined in the tub, bubbles rising over her chest, “Warm tea.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied, taking the mug that was offered to her between both her hands as Tara knelt down beside the tub, “My tummy’s okay now. It was like a passing thing.”  
  
  
Tara just smiled and ran a hand down the smaller girl’s hair. Willow took a long sip from her tea before dropping her hands so her mug was hovering above the water line and turned to Tara, pushing forwards to try and press their lips together.  
  
  
Tara stopped her just before they kissed by putting a finger against her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“We don’t want to start you off again,” she said in a light tone, but Willow’s face fell.  
  
  
“You don’t want to kiss me, do you?” she asked dejectedly, shocking Tara when tears started to fall down her cheeks, seemingly from nowhere, “You don’t love me.”  
  
  
“Wh-what?” Tara asked in disbelief, reaching down and taking one of her wife’s hands under the water, “Of course I love you. I-I just didn’t want to make you sick again.”  
  
  
Willow started sobbing, the mug of tea in her hand falling completely into the water as she brought it up to wipe her eyes. Tara was motionless for a moment as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Willow crying quickly snapped her to attention though and she turned her wife’s chin towards her before capturing her lips with warmth and love.  
  
  
Willow started to quieten after a minute and gingerly kissed back before suddenly pulling away and blushing bright red, ducking her head downwards.  
  
  
“I don’t know what the hell just came over me,” she said quietly, thoroughly embarrassed by her sudden outburst.  
  
  
“It’s okay,” Tara comforted gently, “But please never forget how much I love you.”  
  
  
Willow nodded to herself.  
  
  
“I’ve been feeling kinda all over the place for days,” she admitted quietly, looking to her wife for reassurance, “I thought it was just because of all the anxiety. Think it could be hormones?”  
  
  
“Probably,” Tara replied in assurance, “Willow, your body’s changing. It’s not just the baby bump. It’s okay if you feel completely out of sorts. And I promise I’ll be there for all your mood swings.”  
  
  
Willow managed a small smile.  
  
  
“All of them?”  
  
  
“All of them. You were there when I was getting the injections, remember? And I’ll be there for all of yours,” Tara promised in response, “I will laugh with you when you’re happy and hold you you’re sad and you can rant all you like when you’re angry, even if it’s at me. And I’ll make you laugh when you’re feeling gloomy and talk with you when you’re frustrated and if you’re ever scared, I’ll always make sure I make you feel safe. Did I leave any out?”  
  
  
Willow waggled her eyebrows.  
  
  
“Horny.”  
  
  
“Well you better not go to anyone else with that,” Tara replied with a grin, “Are you okay now?”  
  
  
“Yea,” Willow replied softly, “Thanks.”  
  
  
Tara leaned forwards and placed a kiss against her wife’s temple before pointing at the mug that was bobbing up and down on top of the water.  
  
  
“Would you like some more tea? You’re sitting in your first cup.”  
  
  
Willow blushed again.  
  
  
“Um, no, it’s okay,” she replied quickly before deciding to change the subject, “So, um, what time do we need to collect JJ?”  
  
  
“Michelle said not to rush,” Tara responded with a smile, “We need some groceries so I thought I could go to the store and you could collect him if you wanted.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow agreed before a sudden idea occured to her, “Or we could go shopping just the two of us and collect him after? We haven’t been able to shop together for years without worrying about our hyper little boy crashing into something or filling the cart with Count Chocula. I know it’s just groceries, but it’d be nice.”  
  
  
“Excellent,” Tara nodded, “A shopping date for two.”  
  
  
“And then a family date in the park?” Willow suggested, “We’re gonna be spending a lot of time with everyone else with the holidays coming up, a you-me-and-JJ day is definitely on the cards.”  
  
  
“I’m in,” Tara agreed before winking, “But it’s you-me-JJ-and-the-little-one now.”  
  
  
“Right,” Willow beamed, moving a hand over her stomach, “How could I forget?”  
  
  
Tara smiled down at her wife for a moment before standing up, taking the floating mug with her to get it out of the tub.  
  
  
“I’ll go get ready. Enjoy your bath.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow called after her wife as the blonde left her alone again.  
  
  
She leisurely enjoyed her bath until the water started to go cold and extracted herself from the tub, wrapping a towel around her body and pulling the plug to let the water drain.  
  
  
She walked into the empty bedroom and dried her body off with the towel before retrieving a warm sweater and pair of jeans to wear for the day, pulling her clothing onto her and securing each article snugly. When she was fully dressed, she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen where she saw Tara sitting on a stool, scribbling on a piece of paper.  
  
  
She walked over and wrapped her arms around her wife from behind, resting her chin on the blonde’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Hello there, sweetness,” Tara greeted, leaning back into the embrace, “Do you have anything for the list?”  
  
  
“Hmmm...” Willow looked off in thought for a moment, “Fruit roll-ups.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head to look at her wife and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
  
“The ones we won’t let JJ have because they’re so full of sugar that he stops being a child and turns into an out of control monkey?”  
  
  
Willow just gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“I’ll hide them. I'm craving processed sugar in fruity flavours.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara relented, writing them down on the list, “Whatever you want.”  
  
  
Willow grinned in victory and placed a small kiss behind the blonde’s ear.  
  
  
“We also need milk.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and pointed to the first line of the list.  
  
  
“Yes, Willow, I did remember to include the basics,” she replied playfully before spinning around on the stool, “Shall we?”  
  
  
“You bet,” Willow responded, popping a quick kiss on her wife’s lips before taking her hand, “Do you want to go to that little grocery store on Jefferson instead of the big supermarket? It’s less...imposing.”  
  
  
“Like I said,” Tara replied with a half-smile, “Whatever you want.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and pulled her wife from the stool.   
  
  
“I'm liking this pregnancy thing.”  
  
  
Tara just laughed as they started to walk towards the door, grabbing their purses and jackets on the way until Willow suddenly stopped short.  
  
  
“Wait,” she said, walking around the coat rack and returning a moment later with a straw-coloured fedora-style hat with a black ribbon around the base in her hand, “Wear this.”  
  
  
Tara took the hat as the redhead handed it to her and looked at it quizzically.  
  
  
“Why?”  
  
  
Willow took the hat back and planted it firmly on her wife’s head, adjusting it for a moment before giving a self-righteous grin.  
  
  
“Because you look hot.”  
  
  
Tara looked sceptical.  
  
  
“You do,” Willow continued as she stepped towards and Tara and ran her hands down her arms and to her waist, “Very, very sexy.”  
  
  
The redhead let her hands fall behind her wife and shamelessly grabbed a hold of her rear as she spoke. Tara jumped in place slightly in surprise before letting out a low laugh and taking Willow’s hands off of her.  
  
  
“Alright grabby, come on, we’ve got shopping to do. I’ll wear the hat.”  
  
  
Willow beamed and cupped Tara’s cheeks momentarily as she planted a giddy kiss on her lips before they walked out to the Mercedes, which they always used for shopping because it had the larger trunk.   
  
  
Willow drove them the few miles to the grocery store, forever casting sidelong glances at Tara and grinning, and parking in the car park and getting a cart for them when they arrived. She linked arms with Tara as they both placed a hand either side of the handle on the cart and started pushing through the aisles.  
  
  
“I don’t care what anybody says,” Willow sighed contentedly as she moved to rest her head on her wife’s shoulder, “Being domestic rocks.”  
  
  
“They don’t call it marital bliss for nothing,” Tara smiled back as she deposited a few different varieties of cereal in the cart, “Will you grab some bread?”  
  
  
Willow picked up two loaves of bread and put them on top of the cereal as they turned into the vegetable aisle.  
  
  
“Mmhh, melons,” she said as she saw a collection of honeydews, going over and picking one up, bringing it up to her nose to inhale, “Baby, c’mere and smell this, it’s so fresh.”  
  
  
Tara wheeled the cart over to the melons and took the fruit from her wife’s hands, copying her actions.  
  
  
“Very fresh,” she agreed, before looking at the redhead expectantly.  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked with a smile, carefully putting the fruit into the cart.  
  
  
Tara’s eyebrows rose for a moment before she laughed.  
  
  
“I just can’t believe you brought me over here to play with melons and haven’t made a single joke about breasts.”  
  
  
Willow blushed but raised her chin defiantly.  
  
  
“I will have you know I am much more dignified than that,” she replied haughtily before lowering her voice with a smirk, “Besides, no fruit could ever be as juicy as your wonderful lady lumps.”  
  
  
“Dignified,” Tara replied with a slight quirk of her lips, “As ever.”  
  
  
Willow flashed her teeth in a cheeky smile before looping her arm back with Tara’s as they continued shopping. A full cart, many bags (including one filled with just boxes of fruit roll-ups) and a swipe of a credit card later, and the couple were finished and wheeling the cart out to the car.  
  
  
“I really enjoyed shopping with you,” Willow said as she popped the trunk open, “Maybe we can try schedule it so we can do it during time’s JJ’s with Alex or something.”  
  
  
“That sounds like a great idea,” Tara started to respond before grabbing Willow’s arm when she saw her wife was about to grab the bag with detergent in it, “Don’t. Too heavy. And don’t argue. I don’t want you straining yourself.”  
  
  
“Yes, ma’am,” Willow replied, secretly delighting at Tara’s commanding tone, “I’ll get the cereal.”  
  
  
Between them, Tara taking hold of anything that weighed more a pound, they managed to get all of their groceries transferred to the trunk of the car, some overflow going into the backseat, and drove home repeating the same procedure as they brought everything back into the house before deciding it was time to collect JJ.  
  
  
“Should we walk?” Tara asked, “It’s a nice day.”  
  
  
“JJ’ll have his school bag and overnight stuff though,” Willow replied, “And if we drive we can go to that really nice park near his school, some of his friends might be there.”  
  
  
Tara agreed and they bundled back into the car, driving the two blocks to Ira and Michelle’s house, where Ira and JJ were throwing a baseball back and forth on the front lawn. JJ’s attention was instantly drawn away from the game though as the familiar black car pulled up alongside the lawn and he ran over, throwing himself into Tara’s arms as she opened the passenger door.  
  
  
“Mommy!”  
  
  
“Hi, honey,” Tara greeted, stepping out of the car and closing the door behind her.  
  
  
“Hey, little dude,” Willow’s voice came a moment later as she walked around the car.  
  
  
“Hi, Momma!” JJ replied excitedly as he saw his redheaded mother, “Did you have a good ‘versary?”  
  
  
“Yes we did,” Willow replied, crouching down to her son’s height, “Thank you for asking. Did you have a good night?”  
  
  
“Yea!” JJ responded enthusiastically, “Grandpa let me play with his baseball mitt!”  
  
  
He showed off the large mitt around his hand proudly and Willow looked suitably impressed.  
  
  
“That was very kind of him,” she said, straightening up when she saw Ira walking towards them, “That was very kind of you.”  
  
  
Ira just smiled.  
  
  
“It was nice to get the old thing out again. It hadn’t seen the light of day in quite a few years. Did you have a nice anniversary?”  
  
  
“We had a wonderful anniversary,” Tara answered her father-in-law, casting a sidelong glance at her wife.  
  
  
“Spectacular,” Willow agreed, grinning from ear-to-ear.  
  
  
“Great,” Ira replied, though he sounded slightly uncomfortable, not wanting to think about what exactly had made the night so ‘spectacular’, “Well, JJ was a delight. We finished all his homework, he ate all his vegetables and went to bed the first time he was asked.”  
  
  
Willow reached down and ruffled her son’s hair.  
  
  
“That’s my boy,” she responded with a smile down at her son, “Thanks for looking after him, Dad. And Michelle. Is she around?”  
  
  
“She’s gone to get her hair done,” Ira answered, “It was just us boys for the morning.”  
  
  
“Well give her our thanks,” Willow said before patting her son on the back, “Go get your stuff, Jake.”  
  
  
JJ scurried off into the house, appearing back in the yard just a few moments later with a small backpack on his back, another held securely in front of him.  
  
  
“Bye Grandpa,” he said as he passed Ira and opened the back door of the car, throwing his bags in before turning around again, “Here’s your mitt back.”  
  
  
Ira smiled fondly and pushed the baseball mitt back towards JJ.  
  
  
“Why don’t you keep it? That way you can play with it even when you’re not here.”  
  
  
“Really?” JJ asked, his eyes going as wide as saucers, “Thanks!”  
  
  
Ira took the baseball that he had in his hand and put it in the boy’s mitt.  
  
  
“Just don’t play indoors.”  
  
  
“I won’t,” JJ shook his head seriously.  
  
  
Ira threw a wink in his grandson’s direction and JJ started throwing the ball up and catching it in his mitt. Willow moved forwards and wrapped her arms around her father.  
  
  
“Thanks, Dad,” she whispered, “You’re the best.”  
  
  
“Not a problem,” Ira replied, blushing but embracing his daughter warmly, “Are we still coming over for Hanukkah next week?”  
  
  
Willow pulled back after a moment and nodded.  
  
  
“Of course. Okay, well off we go.”  
  
  
“Thank you Ira,” Tara said as she helped strap JJ into his booster seat.  
  
  
“Bye!” JJ waved as the car door was closed.  
  
  
Ira waved back until everyone was settled into their seats with their belts fastened and Willow turned on the engine, pulling away from the curb. Tara turned around in her seat and smiled at her son.  
  
  
“Would you like...to go to the park?”  
  
  
“Yea!” JJ replied eagerly, his face lighting up, “Can I play with my mitt?”  
  
  
“As long as you’re careful not to hit anyone,” Willow piped up from the front seat.  
  
  
JJ seemed pleased at that and started tossing the baseball between his hand and the mitt for the whole car journey until they arrived outside the park; a large, neatly cut field with parents and couples sitting around on blankets, kids playing and running around with a huge playground on one side, always filled with children clamouring to play on the many structures and equipment set up for their enjoyment.  
  
  
JJ brightened as he saw the park come into view and had the release button on his seatbelt pressed the minute Willow parked the car, though was restrained to the backseat by the childlock on the door. He was about to ask one of his mothers to hurry up and let him out when he noticed something colourful beneath his feet, on the floor.  
  
  
Curious, he bent down and picked it up, not knowing what the box in his hands was until he turned in over.  
  
  
 _Fruit roll-ups!_  
  
  
Unable to resist what was quite literally his forbidden fruit and seeing his mothers weren’t paying attention to him right at that second, he seized the opportunity and opened the box, taking 4 of the plastic packages inside and stuffing them into his pockets before shoving the box and the few remaining roll-ups under the seat in front of him again as he saw Tara moving to open the door.  
  
  
“What are you doing on the floor?” Tara asked as she held the door open.  
  
  
JJ shrugged, not wanting to lie, but not willing to give up on the bounty he’d found either.  
  
  
“Don’t forget your baseball,” Tara continued, not pressing the issue and picking up the ball that was sitting beside the booster seat and handing it to her son.  
  
  
“Thanks, Mommy,” JJ replied and squealed when Willow suddenly picked him up from behind.  
  
  
“Haha, I got you,” Willow exclaimed loudly, “You can never escape my clutches now.”  
  
  
“Momma!” JJ giggled as Willow started spinning them around on the spot, “Put me down!”  
  
  
Willow relented and put the boy down, smirking at him.  
  
  
“Race ya!”  
  
  
Willow was off with more childlike enthusiasm than the actual child had, though JJ was quick on her heels as they raced towards the playground. Tara looked on and shook her head, though she was smiling broadly, as she locked the car and followed her wife and son, though at a more sedate pace, to the playground.  
  
  
When she got there, she saw Willow; cheeks flushed from running, sitting on one of the benches and walked over to sit beside her.  
  
  
“It’s like I have two children sometimes, you know that?”  
  
  
“You do have two children,” Willow replied, taking one of Tara’s hands and pressing it against her stomach momentarily before letting their entwined fingers fall between them.  
  
  
Tara’s smile got even wider, which she didn’t think was possible, and she looked around the various sets of colourful equipment until she caught sight of JJ, proudly showing up his baseball mitt to a boy around the same age as him, whom Tara vaguely recognised.  
  
  
“He’s in JJ’s class, isn’t he?”  
  
  
“Yea, I think his name is Thomas,” Willow answered, “Their cubbies are beside each other.”  
  
  
Across the playground, JJ threw his baseball up in the air as far as he could and grinned proudly when he managed to catch it again.  
  
  
“Wow, JJ, that’s so cool,” the other boy, whose name was indeed Thomas, said in awe.  
  
  
“I know,” JJ replied, before looking over his shoulder cautiously, then shuffling closer to Thomas, “Look what else I got.”  
  
  
He carefully pulled his mitt off and placed it on the ground before reaching into his pocket and revealing one of the packaged fruit roll-ups like the prized possession it was. Thomas’s eyes went wide.  
  
  
“I love those!”  
  
  
JJ sneakily took the other three from his pocket.  
  
  
“Want one?”  
  
  
Thomas took one of them and ripped off the top, pulling the roll up from its packaging and began to devour it. JJ copied his actions, stuffing the evidence into his pockets, and between them they managed to consume the sugar-filled snacks within minutes.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“JJ, be careful!” Willow yelled as she watched her son try to make his way across the monkey bars at lightning speed.  
  
  
It had been 20 minutes since he’d come bounding over to them, dropping his coat and mitt to be looked after in a flurry of excited words, and Willow had spent almost all of that time shouting at him to slow down or be more careful as he went from each piece of equipment in quick succession; going head first down the slide, almost sending the other child on the see-saw flying with the degree in which he bounced and trying to sit one of the swings when somebody else was already on it.  
  
  
“Jeez, he must’ve slept too much last night or something,” Willow said as she exhaled slowly and sank back against the seat, “He was fine in the car. Hell, he was fine when we first got here.”  
  
  
Tara lightly massaged her temple and sighed. She was about to speak when her arm brushed against her son’s jacket, which was lying across her waist, and frowned when she heard an odd crackling noise. She picked it up and felt around, her hand eventually dipping into the pocket. Sudden realisation crossed her features as she pulled her hand out and looked at the contents.  
  
  
“There’s the culprit,” she muttered, throwing the empty packages into her wife’s lap.  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked in confusion, flatting the papers to ensure she knew what they were, “But I hid them all in the laundry room! We weren’t even at home! Damn, a box must’ve fallen out of the bag.”  
  
  
“Probably,” Tara sighed, “I knew we shouldn’t have bought them.”  
  
  
“I’m sorry, baby, I should’ve counted and made sure,” Willow replied quickly, “I’ll handle him.”  
  
  
Willow went to stand up but Tara pulled her back down by her hand and leant her head against the redhead’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Willow, if he found them in the car, then we practically waved them in his face. We’ve never expressively told him he’s not allowed eat roll-ups, we just refuse to buy them, so it’s not fair to get angry at him.”  
  
  
“That’s true,” Willow replied, squeezing the hand in hers, “Although he clearly knows he’s not allowed them or he wouldn’t have been so sneaky about it.”  
  
  
“That’s also true,” Tara responded with another sigh, “But it’s not the biggest thing, is it? He sneaked some candy. He’s 5.”  
  
  
Willow nodded.  
  
  
“Yea. Okay, I think we can let it go this time. We should lay out the rules though.”  
  
  
Tara moved her head up from her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Let’s do it now so we can enjoy the rest of the day together.”  
  
  
Willow nodded again and went to stand up again before noticing her son about to dash right past her.  
  
  
“JJ, come here,” she said loudly enough for him to hear, “Now.”  
  
  
JJ stopped in his tracks at his mother’s tone. He turned towards them both and cautiously walked towards them. Tara picked him up and sat him in her lap and Willow held up the wrappers that were still in her lap. JJ instantly paled.  
  
  
“Where’d you get these, little man?” Willow asked gently.  
  
  
“Car,” JJ mumbled, ducking his head.  
  
  
“You know you’re not allowed these, right?” Willow continued.  
  
  
JJ’s head ducked even further down.  
  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
  
Willow put a hand on her son’s arm.  
  
  
“Look at me, Jakey.”  
  
  
JJ raised his head, meeting his mother’s ever-kind eyes.  
  
  
“You’re not in trouble, okay? But in future, no matter what, you need to ask me or your mother before you eat something. It’s not nice to be sneaky.”  
  
  
JJ looked surprised and looked up to Tara for reassurance, who just dropped a kiss onto his head.  
  
  
“Go play again,” Willow said with a smile, nodding back towards the equipment, “But slow it down. Okay?”  
  
  
JJ nodded genuinely before jumping from his mother’s lap and rushing, though at a more careful pace, back to the swings, which were now free.  
  
  
Tara gratefully watched her now-calmed son as he swung back and forth and wrapped her arm around Willow’s shoulders.  
  
  
“I couldn’t have asked for a better mother for my children.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and turned to place a quick kiss against the blonde’s cheek.  
  
  
“Me either. And I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better wife.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara wasn’t sure what time it was, but the fact that the bedroom was still plunged in darkness told her there was still hours before she needed to be up. But something had pulled her from her sleep and as she looked around her in confusion, she suddenly realised that it had been the sound of her child snivelling as he stood beside the bed, a teddy bear tucked securely under his arm, that had woken her.  
  
  
“Honey, what’s wrong?” she asked in a whisper, reaching out to run a hand through his hair comfortingly.  
  
  
“H-had a nightmare,” JJ replied with a sniffle and a hiccup.  
  
  
Tara used her spare hand to pat the bed bedside her, keeping her voice low to avoiding waking her sleeping wife.  
  
  
“Would you like to sleep with us tonight?”  
  
  
JJ nodded silently and Tara lifted him onto the bed, where he got beneath the covers, a slumbering Willow on one side and Tara on the other. Tara shifted herself onto her side to face her son and propped herself up on one elbow.  
  
  
“Do you want to talk about your nightmare?”   
  
  
JJ brought his teddy bear up and tucked it beneath his chin.  
  
  
“There was a dragon and he was a mean dragon and he blew fire on everything and I couldn’t put them out, even though I tried, my hose wasn't working,” he said in a rushed whisper before a single tear fell down his cheek, “And then he set you and Momma on fire.”  
  
  
Tara reached a hand out and pulled her son to her.  
  
  
“It was just a dream, sweetie. No dragon will ever set me or your Momma on fire.”  
  
  
“Promise?” JJ asked, his tone desperate for reassurance.  
  
  
“Promise,” Tara confirmed, “A dragon would never come to Buffalo. It’s much too cold.”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes went wide as he considered this previously unconsidered possibility and smiled as he accepted it. He wrapped his arm warmly around Tara’s neck in a hug for a few moments before looking over his shoulder when he heard the sounds coming from his other mother.  
  
  
“Does Momma always snore like that?”  
  
  
Tara bit the side of her cheek to stop from laughing.  
  
  
“Sometimes,” she answered, her grin obvious by her tone, “A lot of the time.”  
  
  
Before either of them could say anything else, Willow turned slightly and loudly snorted, causing both JJ and Tara to burst out laughing.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes fluttered open as a sudden loud sound woke her and she reached out to turn on her lamp, looking over in confusion when the light revealed her wife and son giggling wildly.  
  
  
“Um...hi?”  
  
  
Tara cleared her throat to stop her laughter and looked pointedly at her wife.  
  
  
“JJ’s staying with us tonight.”  
  
  
“Ah, okay,” Willow replied, figuring the boy must’ve had a nightmare, “You alright, little man?”  
  
  
JJ nodded quietly.  
  
  
“A dragon killed you and Mommy.”  
  
  
“Oh well you don’t have to worry about that,” Willow replied in a comforting tone, “A dragon wouldn’t come anywhere near us, it’s way too cold.”  
  
  
JJ’s mouth hung open, his eyes wide.  
  
  
“That’s what Mommy said!”  
  
  
“Oh really?” Willow asked, dropping a kiss on top of her son’s head and grinning at her wife, “Great minds think alike. Now, are you guys gonna tell me why we’re having a giggle fest in the middle of the night?”  
  
  
Tara bit the side of her lip and cleared her throat, while JJ just burst out laughing again.  
  
  
“You snore really loudly Momma!”  
  
  
Willow snapped her head back in shock.  
  
  
“No I don’t!” she replied indignantly, before catching sight of Tara’s guilty face, “What? I snore?! We’ve been sharing a bed for 10 years and you just don't tell me this?!”  
  
  
“Willow, calm down,” Tara replied steadily, casting a pointed look down at JJ, “I never said anything because I love the sounds you make when you sleep. It’s like one of those relaxing nature sound CDs.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes stayed dismayed for a few moments before let out a slow exhalation and gave an apologetic nod.  
  
  
“Right,” she responded, before grinning down at her son, “So I’m a big, loud snore monster, am I?”  
  
  
JJ giggled and nodded wildly, bringing his hand up to his mouth to contain his laughter.  
  
  
“Alright,” Willow sighed in mock-exasperation, “Well the snore monster says it’s time to go back asleep!”  
  
  
“Good idea,” Tara agreed with a smile, settling back down on her side.  
  
  
Willow copied her actions and turned off her lamp, throwing an arm over JJ’s body beneath the covers and holding into Tara’s hip.  
  
  
“Everybody comfy?”  
  
  
“Very,” Tara murmured happily.  
  
  
JJ, however, spoke up in a less certain tone.  
  
  
“What if I have another nightmare?”  
  
  
“Go to sleep thinking happy thoughts,” Willow suggested quietly, “You had fun at the park today, right? Think about that.”  
  
  
“Okay,” JJ replied as a loud yawn escaped him, “Night Momma. Night Mommy.”  
  
  
“Night, little man,” Willow echoed as Tara leaned down to kiss her son’s temple.  
  
  
“Goodnight, JJ.”  
  
  
Willow smiled over at her wife, her features just visible in the darkness.  
  
  
“You have sweet dreams, too.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“Oh I will. I always dream of you.”


	17. Chapter 17

  
  
“And do you remember what Judah and his brothers called their army, Jacob?”  
  
  
JJ looked off in serious thought for a few moments as he sat on Ira’s knee, trying to recall the answer to the question he was being asked from the numerous times he’d heard the (much simplified) story of Hanukkah before. After a second, the answer came to him and he clapped his hands together in victory.  
  
  
“Maccabees!”  
  
  
“Correct!” Ira exclaimed proudly, “And they fought and they fought before they finally drove the Syrians out of Israel. Then the Maccabees returned to Jerusalem and entered the Temple, but there was only enough oil to let a lamp burn for one day. But the oil continued to burn and burn for eight whole days.”  
  
  
“And that’s why we light the Menorah for eight days, right Grandpa?” JJ asked, looking over at the Menorah that was set up on the windowsill, “Can we light it now?”  
  
  
“That’s right,” Ira answered before shaking his head, “And not until sundown. We light it then so that everyone can see the light shining.”  
  
  
Ira respected both Willow and Tara’s secular religious view and never tried to push anything on his grandson, but he delighted in the fact that he could keep up the traditions with his family and found Hanukkah to be more enjoyable than ever since JJ had come along.  
  
  
He was able to relay the stories and traditions that had been instilled in him so greatly as a child with a lot more joy than he’d ever been able to with Willow; her mother always taking the fun away from the holiday by making it academic.   
  
  
He was pulled from his thoughts as he saw Willow come into the room with an excited look on her face.  
  
  
“Can we light the candle yet?”  
  
  
Ira almost burst into laughter but remained composed as JJ just looked at his mother wistfully, as if he hadn’t just asked the same question himself.  
  
  
“No, Momma. Not until sundown. Duh.”  
  
  
“It kinda looked like sundown from the kitchen,” Willow said almost sadly before perking up again and flopping down on the sofa beside her father and son, “So what are we talking about in here?”  
  
  
“Maccabees!” JJ replied excitedly, “They fought a huugggee battle and won, even though there were lots and lots more of the other guys!”  
  
  
“I know,” Willow responded with equal enthusiasm, “They were pretty cool, huh?”  
  
  
“Yea,” JJ nodded before his stomach rumbled, “I’m hungry.”  
  
  
Willow pointed towards the doorway.  
  
  
“Why don’t you go see if Grandma and Mommy are finished cooking dinner?”  
  
  
JJ jumped down from his grandfather’s lap and scurried out the door.   
  
  
“They’re cooking up a feast in there,” Willow commented with a smile at her father, “Who woulda thought the goys of the family would be making Hanukkah dinner?”  
  
  
“Because it’s been so different the past 5 years,” Ira replied dryly, “Non-Jewish or not, I would much rather defer to their cooking skills than risk mine. Although you didn’t inherit my dire culinary skills.”  
  
  
“No,” Willow responded with a small laugh, “But ever since I taught Tara how to make brisket and Bubbe’s latkes, mine don’t even begin to compare.”  
  
  
Ira smiled fondly.  
  
  
“She does do my mother justice.”  
  
  
They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Ira but his hand on his daughter’s knee warmly.  
  
  
“You’ve been looking particularly bright these past few weeks,” he said with a smile, “It’s nice to see you so bubbly.”  
  
  
“Was I a dull bore before?” Willow asked with a grin.  
  
  
“No, no,” Ira shook his head, giving his daughter’s knee a squeeze before retrieving his hand, “You just look happy.”  
  
  
Willow smiled to herself for a moment. She and Tara had discussed when they would tell people about the pregnancy again now that Willow actually was pregnant and had again agreed that they would wait until they were past the three month mark.   
  
  
They thought it might be difficult to keep quiet, especially over the holiday period and Tara’s birthday when it would be unusual for Willow not to drink, but they had a cover story planned about being on antibiotics for a lingering infection to reduce any suspicions.  
  
  
“I _am_ happy, Dad,” she chuckled, “I have a great job and a wonderful family and it’s Hanukkah and Christmas is in a couple of weeks. Things are good. Things are great.”  
  
  
Ira smiled down at his daughter but was stopped from saying anything as JJ skidded into the room, pulling Tara along behind him, who had Michelle on her heels.  
  
  
“Candle, candle!” JJ shouted excitedly.  
  
  
“I need to start the latkes in about 10 minutes,” Tara spoke up, before pointing out the window, “It’s getting dark.”  
  
  
“I’ll get the matches,” Willow said, standing up and walking over to the mantle above the fire where a box of matches was hidden behind a photo frame, “Everyone ready?”  
  
  
There was a chorus of yeses as she turned back around and moved to kneel in front of the Menorah where JJ was jumping up and down on the balls of his feet. She smiled as Tara knelt the other of her son as Ira and Michelle stood behind them.  
  
  
Willow picked up the Shamash candle and held it out for JJ to hold. The boy held it securely between his hands as Willow struck the match and brought the flame up to ignite the wick.  
  
  
JJ’s eyes went wide as he watched the candle in his hand burst with a bright flame and tightened his hold to make sure he didn’t drop it.   
  
  
“Do you remember the song about lighting the menorah?” Tara asked, having learnt many of the Hanukkah tunes before their first holiday season with JJ, “Ner Rishon, Ner Sheni...”  
  
  
“Ner Shelishi, Ner Revii, Ner Chamishi,” Willow continued, smiling at her son, “Ner Shishi, Ner Shevii, Ner Shemini...”  
  
  
JJ started nodding as he recognised the tune and joined in with his mothers’ singing.  
  
  
“We put them in starting from the right, we add one more on every night. But don't forget when you start to light, to do it from the left to right,” he sang giddily, beaming as Tara helped him guide the Shamash over to the single candle on the Menorah to light it, then brought the Shamash back to its holder, his singing getting louder, “The Shamash is highest, it's the ner. That lights every wick from here to there. No other candle can compare...to the Shamash, the highest ner!”  
  
  
Tara, Willow, Michelle and Ira all started clapping loudly as the boy finished and JJ blushed but looked very pleased with himself.  
  
  
“Grandpa, sing the other song!” he asked excitedly, tugging on the end of Ira’s pants, “The, the Ma...Maz...”  
  
  
“Maoz Tzur?” Ira asked, knowing his grandson hadn’t quite mastered the lyrics to that song yet. He leant down and picked JJ up in his arms, before smiling around the room, “Only if everyone joins in.”  
  
  
He used his spare arm to wrap around Michelle’s shoulders, holding her into him as Willow entwined her fingers with Tara and rested her head on her wife’s shoulder. Ira cleared his throat.  
  
  
“Maoz tzur...”  
  
  
“Yeshua-si...” the others all joined in straight away, swaying softly in time to the tune.  
  
  
JJ bounced up and down in Ira’s arms throughout until halfway through when he reached out towards his mothers. Tara held her arms out for him to climb into and embraced him tightly against her chest until the finished and JJ smiled shyly around at all the adults.  
  
  
“I like that one.”  
  
  
“I know you do,” Tara replied, squeezing her son warmly, “Do you want to help me with the latkes?”  
  
  
“Are they the crispy things?” JJ asked animatedly and got a nod in return, “Yea, yea, yea!”  
  
  
Willow watched as JJ jumped down and ran out of the room, pulling Tara along with him until they disappeared completely.  
  
  
“I always loved Hanukkah,” Willow commented softly, “But it’s so much more ever since he came along.”  
  
  
“I felt that way when you were born,” Ira replied fondly, “Children bring a magic to the holidays that they never had before.”  
  
  
“Yea...” Willow looked off dreamily for a second, “And I know you might think I’m a bad Jew for saying this, but I love his little face on Christmas morning when he goes downstairs and thinks Santa’s been.”  
  
  
“You’re not a bad anything,” Ira reassured.  
  
  
Willow leaned over to give her father a one-armed hug.  
  
  
“Thanks, Dad.”  
  
  
“So what is ‘Santa’ bringing JJ this year?” Michelle asked, “Is he still looking for a trampoline?”  
  
  
“The past three years he’s been asking for a trampoline,” Willow replied with a roll of her eyes, “And the past three years, 'Santa' has left a very clear note saying that they are way too much of a neck-breaking hazard. He always grumbles but loves his presents once he opens them. We’re getting him a laptop.”  
  
  
Ira looked shocked.  
  
  
“But he’s only a child!”  
  
  
Willow laughed.  
  
  
“Welcome to the age of technology. We’re getting him one of those ones they make for kids. It’s Disney themed and has all these games and learning aides to help with spelling and math and all kinds of things. Computers are the standard these days, Dad; he’s going to need to be tech-savvy.”  
  
  
“I see some of the kids I work with have those,” Michelle responded with a knowing smile, “They look like they have a lot of fun.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“Yea, they’re supposed to be. Alex is getting the same thing; myself and Anya are going shopping with Alice tomorrow to get things for the kids.”  
  
  
Everyone had agreed when the various children had been brought into the fold that only parents would give presents to the kids at Christmas, to stop any mass buying or people feeling obligated to spend money they didn’t have. Ira and Michelle were part of the arrangement, not buying JJ anything for Christmas, but Ira did give JJ small presents on each night of Hanukkah, which Willow and Tara were fine with.  
  
  
“Oh, a girlie day,” Michelle replied with a smile, “That sounds like fun.”  
  
  
Willow burst out laughing.  
  
  
“Fun? You’ve clearly never seen Anya in shopping-mode. She brings a whistle and everything. God help anyone who stands in the way of her and whatever ‘pretty thing’ she’s set her eye on.”  
  
  
Michelle’s eyes widened slightly but she was stopped from saying anything as JJ skidded into the room.  
  
  
“Mommy says dinner’s ready,” he said, his words crashing into each other, “And we gotta hurry ‘cause the crispy things are hot and yummy!”  
  
  
“Okay, we’re coming,” Willow replied with a laugh in her voice, “Who can resist the crispy yummies?”  
  
  
JJ tried to speak but found his excitement too much to be able to and grabbed Willow’s hand, tugging at her.  
  
  
Willow let herself be led out of the living room and into the dining room, Ira and Michelle following behind her, where Tara had set the brisket and side dishes in the centre of the immaculately-decorated table and was serving latkes onto everyone’s plate.  
  
  
“Dinner’s ready,” she said with a half-smile as she plated the final latke, “I’ll go get the wine.”  
  
  
She took one of the wine glasses on the table, then knelt down as JJ climbed onto the chair with his special dishware and took his plastic cup.  
  
  
“Apple juice, honey?”  
  
  
JJ nodded his head and went to pick up the latke on his plate but was stopped as Tara put a hand on top of his.  
  
  
“Wait until everyone’s ready, little man,” she whispered before straightening up again, “I’ll be right back.”  
  
  
Tara left the room and filled JJ’s cup with apple juice, the wine glass with apple cider and uncorked the bottle of kosher wine before going back into the dining room. She put her son’s cup down beside him and Willow’s down, then filled her own, Michelle and Ira’s glasses with wine before finally taking a seat between Willow and JJ, the older couple sitting opposite.  
  
  
She took Willow’s hand and rested them on top of the table before smiling around at everyone.  
  
  
“Happy Hanukkah, everybody.”  
  
  
“Happy Hanukkah,” four other voices returned the sentiment before JJ tugged on the side of Tara’s shirt.  
  
  
“Can I eat now, Mommy?”  
  
  
“Yes, JJ, you can eat,” Tara replied with a laugh, ruffling the top of her son’s head, “Everyone can eat.”  
  
  
Everyone did just, savouring their latkes before the brisket and vegetables were passed around and each plate was filled.  
  
  
“This really is delicious,” Ira spoke up through a mouthful of greenbeans, blushing and bringing his hand over his mouth as he swallowed, “Delicious.”  
  
  
“It’s great, baby,” Willow added, leaning over to place a quick kiss against her wife’s cheek.  
  
  
“Michelle did all the veggies,” Tara replied modestly.  
  
  
“Well the veggies rock,” Willow said, reaching over to one of the bowls, “So good I’m gonna have some more.”  
  
  
Ira gave an amused smile.  
  
  
“Hungry today, Willow?”  
  
  
Willow peered over at Tara, who threw a sly wink back. Willow speared a piece of carrot on her fork and nodded.  
  
  
“Yea. I’ve been pretty hungry lately.”  
  
  
Ira just nodded, not picking up on the grin that passed between his daughter and daughter-in-law and cut another piece of brisket off for himself.   
  
  
When everyone’s plate was empty and stomachs were full, the 5 settled back in the living room; Ira and Michelle sitting on the sofa with JJ between them as Tara sat in one of the armchairs, Willow on her lap.  
  
  
After a few minutes of chatting, Ira excused himself out of the room, only to return a few minutes later, holding something behind his back. He walked back over to his seat and sat down, sliding a rectangular-shaped gift, wrapped in dark paper with the Star of David printed all over it, into JJ’s lap.  
  
  
“Happy Hanukkah, Jacob,” Ira said stoically but with warmth.  
  
  
Michelle leant down and kissed JJ on top of his head.  
  
  
“Happy Hanukkah, sweetpea.”  
  
  
JJ held the present in his hand for just a moment before ripping the paper off, revealing a new set of sharpened coloured pencils and a pristine colouring book, the front cover indicating it was full of Jewish symbols and pictures to colour in.  
  
  
“Wow,” he said with wide-eyed wonder, “Thanks Grandma, thanks Grandpa!”  
  
  
“You’re welcome,” Ira and Michelle answered at the same time.  
  
  
“I’m gonna colour now!” JJ said excitedly, pushing himself onto the floor and lying on his stomach, before looking up at Willow, “Wanna colour with me, Momma?”  
  
  
“You bet,” Willow replied enthusiastically, copying her son’s actions and lying opposite him on the floor as he flicked open the colouring book, “Do you want to colour the dreidel or the menorah first?”  
  
  
“Menorah,” JJ answered before smiling a toothy grin up at his mother, “Then we can play with the real dreidel!”  
  
  
Willow smiled and held a hand out.  
  
  
“Yellow, please. Oh and orange!”  
  
  
JJ handed over the two coloured pencils and Willow started shading the flames on the candles while JJ coloured in the menorah.  
  
  
“She always did love colouring,” Ira commented with an amused grin, “And always a stickler for staying inside the lines.”  
  
  
“It changes the picture if you scribble outside of it,” Willow shot back in a sing-song voice, never taking her focus away from her task.  
  
  
The side of Tara’s lip quirked into a half-smile.  
  
  
“Ever the perfectionist.”  
  
  
“Well, if you strive for perfection, you’re more likey to get it,” Willow answered, grinning back at her wife for just a second, “I got you.”  
  
  
Tara blushed and cleared her throat before standing up.  
  
  
“I’ll just refresh your wine,” she said, taking Ira and Michelle’s glasses before leaving the room.  
  
  
“It’s endearing how sweet you are with each other after all these years,” Michelle commented fondly.  
  
  
“What does endearing mean?” JJ asked as his pencil shaded in the colour on the page.  
  
  
“It means...” Willow started with a warm smile and wink towards Michelle, before she focused back on her son, “That I love your Mommy very, very, very much.”  
  
  
“Oh,” JJ nodded to himself, satisfied with that answer, “Me too.”  
  
  
Tara returned then and handed Ira and Michelle their glasses back before retaking her seat.   
  
  
The conversation flowed easily for the rest of the evening between the adults, differing on who was doing the talking when Willow and JJ finished their picture and JJ asked Ira to play dreidel with him, leaving the women alone to talk until JJ jumped up, giddy, quite a while later, and ran over to his mothers, holding out his hands and the shiny bounty he had acquired.  
  
  
“Look, look, I got,” he started before looking down and counting, “...3, 4, 5, 6, 7...7 quarters!!!”  
  
  
“He is quite the adept at the game,” Ira blushed as he stood up from the floor, clicking his neck back and forth.  
  
  
“Wow, you cleaned Grandpa out,” Willow said with a laugh, before glancing down at her watch with a sigh, “It’s bedtime, little man.”  
  
  
It was already an hour later than the boy’s normal bedtime, having been allowed stay up for the occasion, but Willow knew if they didn’t get him to sleep soon, he’d be extra cranky the next day.  
  
  
JJ pouted but didn’t try to argue.  
  
  
“Okay,” he reluctantly agreed, “Can I put my money in my piggy bank first?”  
  
  
“You bet,” Willow nodded, “Go upstairs and put your money away and brush your teeth. I’ll be right up. Say goodnight to Grandpa and Grandma.”  
  
  
JJ went over and hugged each of his grandparents individually, then went and threw his body around Tara’s leg.  
  
  
“‘Night Mommy. Love you.”   
  
  
“I love you, too,” Tara replied, lifting JJ up and holding him close as she kissed the top of his head.  
  
  
JJ smiled at Tara as she set him down before tottering out of the room and up the stairs.  
  
  
“We’re going to head off too, I think,” Ira spoke up, “I think little boys and old men have similar bed times.”  
  
  
Willow laughed and moved forward to embrace her father.  
  
  
“Thanks for coming, Dad. Happy Hanukkah.”  
  
  
“And to you,” Ira hugged back warmly.  
  
  
They parted and Willow went to hug Michelle while Tara hugged Ira and then her aunt. The older couple gathered their jackets and Willow and Tara waved them off before closing the front door.  
  
  
“Okay, I’m on bedtime duty,” Willow said, pushing off the door and going towards the stairs.  
  
  
“And I’ll clean up,” Tara replied, smiling at her wife, “Shall we say...sofa in twenty minutes?”  
  
  
“I’ll be ready and waiting for cuddles,” Willow grinned over her shoulder, “Meet you there.”  
  
  
Willow continued up the stairs and went into her son’s bedroom, where she saw JJ, already in his pyjamas, standing over his bookcase.  
  
  
“Hey, you’re in jammies and everything,” she said with a warm smile, “Teeth clean?”  
  
  
“Yep!” JJ replied, turning around with two books in hand and flashing his teeth, “See?”  
  
  
“I do,” Willow replied as JJ walked towards to her and over to his bed, “What books have we got this evening?”  
  
  
JJ handed the two thin books over to his mother as she sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
  
“One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and The Cat in the Hat,” Willow read off the titles with an approving tone, “Feeling Seussical?”  
  
  
JJ giggled as he pulled his covers up around himself and settled his head on the pillow.  
  
  
“Fish one first.”  
  
  
Willow picked up the first book and opened it to the first page, beginning to read.  
  
  
“One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. Black fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish. This one has a little star. This one has a little car. Say! What a lot of fish there are! Yes, some are red. And some are blue. Some are old. And some are new. Some are sad and some are glad. And some are very, very bad!”  
  
  
She continued reading the rhyming prose of the story through its end before promptly starting the second book, letting small accents come out for the various characters and using small hand actions to make the story more interesting until she came to the final pages.  
  
  
“Then he said, that is that. Then he was gone, with a tip of his hat. Then our mother came in, and she said to us too, did you have any fun? Tell me, what did you do? And Sally and I did not know what to say. Should we tell her the things that went on there that day? Should we tell her about it? Now what should we do? What would you do, if your mother asked you?”  
  
  
JJ stuck his tongue out between his teeth.  
  
  
“I wouldn’t tell you anything!”  
  
  
“Oh you wouldn’t would you?” Willow grinned, moving her hands down to JJ’s sides above the covers, “I’d have to tickle it outta you!”  
  
  
JJ squirmed as Willow pretended to tickle him before she leant down and kissed his forehead.  
  
  
“Night, little man. I love you.”  
  
  
“Love you, Momma,” JJ replied sleepily, his eyes starting to droop.  
  
  
Willow kissed her son a final time before standing up and leaving his bedroom, flicking his nightlight on as she passed it, leaving his door a jar so she or Tara would hear if he called for them.  
  
  
She quietly made her way downstairs and into the living room, where she saw Tara was already sitting on the sofa, head leaning back against the pillows and her eyes closed.  
  
  
“No sleeping during cuddle time,” Willow said as she collapsed onto the sofa beside her wife, “It goes against our marital contract.”  
  
  
“I’m not sleeping,” Tara murmured as her hand wrapped around the redhead’s shoulders, “Just resting my eyes.”  
  
  
Willow swung her legs onto the couch and let them hang over the arm rest, moving her head so it was on Tara’s lap, looking up at her wife.  
  
  
“Well rest ‘em on me, ‘cause I wanna get lost in those baby blues I fell in love with.”  
  
  
Tara fluttered her eyes open and smiled down at her wife.  
  
  
“Hello, beautiful girl.”  
  
  
“Hello, gorgeous woman,” Willow replied with a grin, “Are you tired?”  
  
  
Tara started playing with the ends of Willow’s hair, curling them against her fingers and smiled softly.  
  
  
“A little. I’m always worried when I cook Hanukkah dinner in case I mess it up. Especially in front of your father.”  
  
  
Willow raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
“What? Why would you be...” she trailed off as a thought occured to her, “Because you’re not Jewish? Baby, that’s silly.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“He’s so good about not pushing the Jewish stuff with JJ, I figure the least we can do is give him a good Hanukkah.”  
  
  
Willow reached up and entwined one set of hands with the blonde’s.  
  
  
“Okay, well first of all, yes, he is very good at respecting our beliefs, but how we raise our child is really nothing to do with him and we’d have a big issue if he tried to interfere. Secondly, Dad loves Hanukkah just ‘cause it’s with us and your cooking is always amazing. And thirdly,” she said, sitting up just momentarily to press a kiss against Tara’s lips, “You’re the sweetest woman in the world.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small blush as Willow settled her head back on her wife’s lap.  
  
  
“I’m a little tired too. We should probably go to bed early anyway, a day of Anya-style shopping awaits me tomorrow.”  
  
  
Tara nodded for a moment before suddenly shaking her head in confusion.  
  
  
“Wait, what?”  
  
  
“Tomorrow,” Willow replied, an errant yawn escaping her lips, “You know, shopping for the kids. We do it every year.”  
  
  
“No, I know what you’re talking about,” Tara replied, frowning, “I just didn’t know it was tomorrow.”  
  
  
Willow blinked a couple of times.  
  
  
“Did I...did I not tell you? Oh baby, I’m sorry, I thought I told you. We decided on tomorrow because the toy store in the mall is having a 50% off one-day-only sale.”  
  
  
“It’s alright,” Tara replied before shaking her head again, “But, sweetheart, I’m sorry, you can’t go.”  
  
  
Willow looked puzzled.  
  
  
“Why not? We don’t have plans, do we? Damn baby brain, my head’s like a sieve.”  
  
  
“No, we don’t have plans,” Tara answered, “But there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that I’m letting my pregnant wife go out with Anya while she’s in shopping mode. She pushed two women out of the way to get that drum set for Alex last year and you got caught it the crossfire. I seem to remember you coming home with a cut lip.”  
  
  
“It was an accident,” Willow protested, “The mother swung for Anya and got me instead.”  
  
  
Tara looked at her wife pointedly.  
  
  
“And what happens when, as she inevitably will, Anya pisses off another parent and you end up falling over or knocking your tummy against something?”  
  
  
Willow glanced down at her stomach, then back up at Tara.  
  
  
“I didn’t think of that.”  
  
  
Tara squeezed the hand in hers.  
  
  
“I’ll go shopping instead.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow agreed, “That’s probably a good idea.”  
  
  
“Good,” Tara replied with an easy smile, “Happy Hanukkah to us.”  
  
  
Willow smiled back and moved her spare hand to rest over her stomach.  
  
  
“And Happy Hanukkah to little us.”


	18. Chapter 18

  
“Tara?” Alice asked in confusion as she saw her friend and co-worker walking towards her, where she was standing outside the large mall that had been the agreed meeting place.  
  
  
“Hi,” Tara greeted warmly, rubbing her glove-covered hands together, “It’s cold today.”  
  
  
“Um, yea,” Alice replied before shaking her head, still confused, “Tara what are you doing here? I thought Willow was doing the shopping.”  
  
  
“Change of plan,” Tara answered casually, “Willow decided to stay home with JJ for the day. Xander is bringing Alex over; they’re all going to decorate our tree. Hey, you should call Jess and tell him to go over with Ella too.”  
  
  
“You know, that’s a really good idea,” Alice replied, whipping out her phone, “He’s a great dad, but I’m always worried I’m gonna go home and she’ll have a Mohawk or something when I leave them alone for the day.”  
  
  
Tara laughed as Alice started dialling numbers and put her phone against her ear, turning around as she began to converse.  
  
  
Tara took the list of toys that she had to purchase that day from her pocket, mainly JJ’s gift from ‘Santa’ and then a few miscellaneous items that would be from them. She also figured she’d be able to get her present for Willow while she was shopping, though she was still unsure exactly what she was getting her wife. Her original idea had been a blouse she knew the redhead had been admiring for a while, but didn’t want to get Willow something that she wouldn’t be able to wear in a few weeks.  
  
  
That thought made Tara feel giddy as she thought of the exact reason her wife would soon begin to outgrow her clothing and smiled widely to herself. That was, until she was disturbed from her musings by two fingers loudly snapping in her face.  
  
  
“Smiling has no place in shopping,” Anya’s curt voice cut through Tara’s thoughts, “This is war.”  
  
  
“Right,” Tara replied, clearing her throat and pocketing her list, knowing Anya was not kidding, “Sorry.”  
  
  
Anya narrowed her eyes.  
  
  
“What are you doing here?”  
  
  
“Willow had to stay at home,” Tara replied, feeling almost scared at how intense Anya was being. Willow had told her to be prepared, but she hadn’t quite understood just how seriously Anya took this whole thing until right then, “She, um...JJ wanted her to help with homework this morning before Alex and your husband get there. She's much better at coming up with ways to explain math to him.”  
  
  
Anya sighed and shook her head, throwing her hands into the air in frustration.  
  
  
“Great. Now I have to work with two newbies.”  
  
  
Alice hung up her phone then and turned back to Tara and Anya.  
  
  
“Hey, Ahn. Are we all ready to go shopping?”  
  
  
“We will be once I’ve covered the game plan,” Anya answered, before nodding nonchalantly towards the entrance to the mall, “And this place opens.”  
  
  
Alice’s head shot towards the doors, for the first time noticing they were bolted shut.  
  
  
“Why the hell are we here if it isn’t open?”  
  
  
“Because in an hour’s time, when those doors open,” Anya replied irately, “This place will be full of insane mothers and fathers who want _my_ gifts and we need to be first in line. If I had my way, we’d have started camping out last night.”  
  
  
Alice looked to Tara in wide-eyed terror, who just shrugged and gave her a look that said to go with it. She felt sorry for the brunette though. At least Willow had warned her. Alice was coming into this blind.  
  
  
“Well that would have been unnecessary,” Tara pointed out, gesturing to the empty lot and lack of people around them, “We’re the first ones here.”  
  
  
Anya just set her shoulders backwards.  
  
  
“Lucky break,” she said before kneeling on the ground and opening the large purse she had swung over her shoulder, “Okay we need to go over our strategy.”  
  
  
She handed each of the other women a whistle with a neck band and four snack-sizes boxes of raisins, which both women looked at bizarrely.  
  
  
“Um, Anya?” Alice asked in a timid voice, “Why do we need raisins?”  
  
  
“Brain food,” Anya explained as if it was obvious, “If your blood sugar’s start to fall today, down the box of raisins so you’re back to full shopping potential.”  
  
  
Alice just nodded weakly and deposited the raisins in her own purse as Anya suddenly produced a folded up piece of paper, which she flattened out as she straightened up and stood between the other two. Tara peered down and saw it was a map of the toy store, with arrows and labels drawn in.  
  
  
“Have you both got your lists?” Anya enquired and got two answering nods, “Good. Okay, now the store is on the left hand side, three stores down. When we go in, we’ll be at the board games, which quickly leads onto the Lego, Meccano and K’NEX aisle. When we turn that corner, we’ll be at dolls and plush toys. Anyone with allergies, please take a pill now. From there, we move to sports and sports-related gaming before finally arriving at electronic toys. Tara, how quickly can you make it to aisle 5?”  
  
  
Tara quickly scoured the map to figure that aisle 5 was the electronic toys aisle, where she and Anya would find the laptops for their boys. She had absolutely no idea how long she’d be going through the other aisles, having figured she’d just collect whatever was on her list as she went, but she gathered that wouldn’t be an acceptable answer.  
  
  
She gave Anya a thumbs us sign.  
  
  
“As quick as you need me to.”  
  
  
“I called the store yesterday,” Anya continued, “They have 7 Disney laptops in stock. 2 of which _will_ be in our possession by the end of today.”  
  
  
“Right,” Tara nodded, “We’ll get them.”  
  
  
“I know we will,” Anya replied with more than a hint of determination, “Has Willow filled you on the whistle rule?”  
  
  
“Whistle rule?” Alice piped up, picking up the whistle she’d hung around her neck, “What are these for anyway?”  
  
  
“These,” Anya responded, holding up her whistle, “Are in case one of us gets into trouble. If you get into a tug of war with another parent or need back-up in anyway, whistle and the other person, or people now, comes running to help. The only exception to the rule is if you’re in a mess of your own. Otherwise, you have to help. It’s Shop Club solidarity.”  
  
  
Alice mouthed the words ‘Shop Club’ to Tara in terror and question, who just held her hands up, not knowing what to say. Anya didn’t notice the exchange, her whole body stiffening as she noticed another group of women start to gather beside them.  
  
  
“They’re assembling,” she said in a low tone, “Come on; we need to stay by the door.”  
  
  
She rushed off towards the glass doors, stretching her arms across all three of them to prevent anyone else from having access. Alice turned to Tara, her mouth hanging open.  
  
  
“Is she serious?!”  
  
  
Tara started walking over to Anya, looking over her shoulder at Alice.  
  
  
“Yes, and I really wouldn’t let her hear you questioning her.”  
  
  
“I feel like I’m in the twilight zone,” Alice said in disbelief as she followed, “I thought we were just going shopping.”  
  
  
“We are,” Tara answered in a whisper, “Just Anya-style.”  
  
  
“I bet Willow only put up with this because she loved the organisation,” Alice muttered before Tara nudged her sharply as they stood either side of Anya.  
  
  
“We’ve got the doors, Anya,” Tara said politely, “You can put your arms down.”  
  
  
Anya looked around and nodded to herself when she saw Alice and Tara stood squarely in front of the door either side of her.  
  
  
“30 minutes to kick-off.”  
  
  
Alice and Tara exchanged a look but said nothing.  
  
  
Anya’s speculation that the carpark would become thronged with people over the next half an hour turned out to be quite correct as more and more people gathered around them. The crowds began to stand closer and closer to the main doors, eventually starting to push against the three women.  
  
  
After a while, Anya’s watch began beeping and she suddenly threw herself around so she was facing the doors, her face practically mashed up against the glass. She tugged Alice and Tara into a similar position before lowering her voice to a whisper.  
  
  
“These doors will open in 47 seconds. Be ready to run. If you can, grab a cart when you get inside. You can push the others out of the way with it.”  
  
  
Tara nodded and Alice just gulped. Tara couldn’t be sure, but she thought she might have seen her colleague and friend praying.  
  
  
37 seconds passed and Anya counted the final 10 seconds, her pitch getting higher as she saw a stocky redheaded boy come to the doors and start to pull back the bolts. The crowd behind them started yelling and pushing and Tara braced herself.  
  
  
After what seemed like an age, but was reality only a moment or two, the three doors eventually swung open.  
  
  
Anya was off like a shot, racing towards the toy store. Tara saw her run in, grabbing a cart from the available ones off to the side before running like a cheetah down the aisles. Tara and Alice followed at an equal pace, though neither managed to nab a cart, and their speed came mostly from trying to avoid being trampled.  
  
  
Tara tried to remember the established route Anya had laid out but in the corner of her eye spotted the exact model of laptop they were getting for the boys as part of a large display. She rushed over and grabbed the final two that were set out; a handle in each hand, just as Anya came rushing around the corner, her cart already filled with items.  
  
  
“Tara!” she called, pride evident in her voice, “You beat me! Well done! You can permanently replace Willow!”  
  
  
She stopped her cart in front of Tara, her face flushed from running.  
  
  
“I got the last two,” Tara replied, holding up her hands in indication.  
  
  
Anya visibly sighed in relief and took one of the laptops, before looking at Tara in confusion.  
  
  
“Where’s the rest of your stuff?”  
  
  
“I-I came straight here,” Tara replied nervously and Anya looked horrified, grabbing the second laptop and throwing in her cart.  
  
  
“Go, go! I’ll take care of the laptops!”  
  
  
Tara rushed off for appearances sake and rounded one of the corner so she was in the construction sets aisle, surprised to see that a lot of the stock had already been taken by the many other people running around, though she was happy to see there was still a few of the special edition Fire Fighter Building Lego sets and grabbed one.  
  
  
She made her way over to the board games and picked up a Simpson’s game that JJ had mentioned playing in school and liking. As she moved down the aisle, she added a Frisbee and a yo-yo to her collection, balancing everything between her two hands before turning into the doll section, hoping she’d find the talking hamster toy her son wanted to complete his gifts.  
  
  
She beamed when she noticed the toy in question and just managed to grab it while keeping her balance before suddenly seeing Alice just ahead, backed against the rows of toys; a pink, glittery teething ring hanging from one hand and a giraffe plush toy in the other. She visibly relaxed as she saw Tara coming towards her.  
  
  
“Tara, thank god. I really didn’t think there’d be this many people.”  
  
  
“It’s 50% off,” Tara said, scowling at a woman who rushed past her and almost made her drop the load in her hands, “I wouldn’t be surprised if all of Buffalo is here.”  
  
  
Alice’s eyes darted around herself.  
  
  
“Me either.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small laugh before looking down at the contents of her friend’s hand.  
  
  
“Is that all you’re getting?”  
  
  
“Ella’s 3 months old,” Alice replied with a playful roll of her eyes, “Something to chew on and something squishy and she’s the happiest girl in the world. I only came today because I thought we’d be having a fun day of shopping, this stuff is cheap enough as it is, I don’t need the 50% off. I seriously didn’t know Anya would be such a nightmare.”  
  
  
“Well she may be a bit...intense,” Tara responded.  
  
  
Alice looked at Tara like she’d grown a second head.  
  
  
“Tara, she’s crazy!”  
  
  
“There is method to her madness,” Tara replied, holding her arms up in indication, “I have everything JJ wants and we’ve been here less than thirty minutes.”  
  
  
Alice opened her mouth to respond but didn’t get a chance to as the shrill sound of a whistle rang out around them. Tara bit the side of her lip.  
  
  
“That’s our cue.”  
  
  
Tara again got the ‘you have two heads’ look from Alice.  
  
  
“Tara, you cannot be serious.”  
  
  
“She’d do it for us,” Tara called over her shoulder as she started quickly walking towards the sound of the whistle.  
  
  
Alice resigned herself to the fact that she had indeed entered the Twilight Zone and followed Tara, the two women rounding the corner to see Anya trying to roughly tug a box from another woman’s hand, the whistle still between her teeth, though she wasn’t blowing into it.  
  
  
She spat the whistle out as she saw Tara and Alice come forward.  
  
  
“What’s going on here?” Tara asked calmly as she approached, placing her items in Anya’s cart.  
  
  
“This bitch stole one of the laptops right from the cart,” Anya snarled at the woman, before puffing out her next words between huffy breaths, “That...is not...proper...shopping...etiquette!”   
  
  
“This is insane,” Alice muttered, shaking her head, “Completely insane.”  
  
  
Tara ignored her friend and gave the other woman that Anya was about to physically attack with a soft smile.  
  
  
“Um, ma’am, we did get to those first.”  
  
  
“I don’t know what you’re all talking about,” the woman spoke up in a haughty and obviously lying tone, “I had this in my hands and this woman just came and swiped it out from under me.”  
  
  
“Oh you little–” Anya started, giving another rough tug, “Nobody tries to steal from Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins-Harris!”  
  
  
“Do all those names make you feel special?” the woman shot back as Anya started to become incensed.  
  
  
“I will evisc–”  
  
  
Anya was cut off and scrambled in surprise as both women found the box snatched from their grips. Tara turned, box in hand, and deposited it back in the cart.  
  
  
“Alice, do not take your eyes off that thing,” she said to the brunette before turning back to the two women. She grabbed Anya’s shoulder to hold her back and shook her head at the other woman, “I’m not going to apologise, I know you took that from my friend’s cart. Next time, be wary of a woman with a whistle.”  
  
  
She then turned Anya using her grip on her blonde friend’s shoulder and started walking them away from the woman, indicating for Alice to follow with the cart. Once they were a lengthy distance away, Anya turned to Tara and offered her a small smile.  
  
  
“You can definitely replace Willow. Last year, she gave away the toy helicopter I was fighting with someone over, even though I picked it up first!”  
  
  
“Yes, and if I’m told correctly, did so to stop both of you from coming home with black eyes,” Tara replied with a quirked eyebrow, “So I’m glad she did it. And didn’t Alex get a helicopter in the end anyway?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Anya answered, slightly affronted, “But only one with 6 speeds, not 7!”  
  
  
Tara just chuckled to herself before gesturing at the cart.  
  
  
“Have you got everything you wanted?”  
  
  
“Everything on my list,” Anya confirmed, “All of Alex’s Christmas and birthday presents.”  
  
  
“Oh his birthday, of course,” Alice interjected, looking at the contents of the very-full cart, “I was thinking you were going a bit overboard on Santa presents.”  
  
  
“So, if we’re all finished with the toys...” Tara started, “Do you guys have anymore shopping to do? I need to go for Willow.”  
  
  
“Yea, I need to pick something up from that specialty sports store upstairs,” Alice replied, “I got Jesse a signed baseball.”  
  
  
“And I need to get Xander’s aftershave,” Anya piped up, smiling fondly, “He says it gives him a rash, but I like how it makes him smell big and manly, so he’s getting it anyway.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head with a quiet laugh.  
  
  
“Alright, well, why don’t we go pay for these and put them in the cars so we’re not weighed down with bags? Then we can go and get the things we need to get and grab some lunch before we head back.”  
  
  
The other two nodded their agreements and the trio made their way to the cash registers, taking one each to pay for their goods. Once paid, they loaded the bags into the cart to wheel them to each of their cars and deposited them in their respective trucks before making their way back to the mall.  
  
  
“Okay, so like...an hour?” Tara suggested as she walked through the automatic doors again, thankful that she wasn’t at risk of being crushed this time, “We can meet at that Italian deli place in the food court.”  
  
  
“Great,” Alice smiled, checking the time on her watch, “I’ll be there.”  
  
  
“Me too,” Anya agreed.  
  
  
The three all went in their separate directions; Alice heading up to the sporting store and Anya to the perfume store while Tara leisurely strolled around the mall, passing the various stores as she waited for something to catch her eye or an idea to pop into her head for Willow’s gift.  
  
  
When Abercrombie & Fitch, Lady Foot Locker, The Body Shop and Victoria Secret all failed to give her ideas (or the right kind of idea anyway, as the lingerie shop had sent plenty of thoughts into her head), she took the escalator to the second floor and started on the same circular path around that level.  
  
  
She lingered at The Apple store for a moment before deciding that she’d probably end up getting the wrong kind of computer-related gadget that Willow liked, or get one she already had. She saw a beautiful necklace in the window of the Swarovski store, but opted out of that, since she’d gotten Willow a necklace for their anniversary. She kept it mind though for their February anniversary.  
  
  
She was just about to give up when she wandered past a store called Bag Ladies and decided to go in. She admired the various purses and clutches before coming across a set of leather wallets.  
  
  
She picked up the red-coloured one and nodded in appreciation of how smooth and sleek the leather was, suddenly remembering how Willow had told her a few weeks previously that her own wallet had developed a small hole in the coin compartment.   
  
  
She’d pretty much decided on buying it, but was sold completely when she went to unzip the zipper on the purse and saw the charm hanging off the end of the slider was a diamond-studded ‘W’.  
  
  
A quick look at the label told her the company that produced the wallet started with ‘W’, the slider being their logo, but Tara took it as a sign that it was the gift she was supposed to get her wife.  
  
  
She brought it to the female cashier, who giftwrapped it in green and brown striped paper, finished with silver ribbon, tied and spiralled into a decorative bow shape. Tara handed her debit card to the other girl, who smiled pleasantly as she ran the transaction and handed Tara her card back along with the wrapped wallet in a small boutique bag.  
  
  
“Have a nice day.”  
  
  
“I will,” Tara smiled pleasantly as she took the bag, “Thank you.”  
  
  
She strolled out of the store and checked her watch, seeing there were still a few minutes until she had to meet the girls. With nothing else to do, she decided to head on up to the food court and nab a table before the lunch time rush hit. She walked back around to the escalators again and stepped on, letting people pass her on the right until she stepped off in the foot court.  
  
  
She went towards the Italian deli they’d agreed to meet at and smiled when she spotted Alice sitting at a nearby table, quietly sipping from a bottle of water and pressing buttons on her phone. She walked over and slid into the seat opposite.  
  
  
“Hey,” she greeted warmly, “Did you get the baseball?”  
  
  
“Yep,” Alice smiled, snapping her phone shut, “And Jesse says they’re all having fun.”  
  
  
Tara smiled back.  
  
  
“Good.”  
  
  
Alice took another sip from her water and pointed at the bag Tara had put down beside her chair.  
  
  
“What did you get Willow?”  
  
  
“A nice wallet,” Tara responded, “Her old one was starting to fall apart.”  
  
  
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Alice replied, but didn’t get a chance to say anything else as Anya suddenly appeared and sat down beside them.  
  
  
“Hello, ladies,” she greeted with a smile, “Have we all finished our personal duties in supporting capitalism?”  
  
  
“We have,” Tara replied with the barest hit of a grin, “Have you?”  
  
  
“Oh yes,” Anya responded eagerly, reaching into one of the bags by her feet, “Look what Xander got me for Christmas.”  
  
  
She produced a rectangular jewellery box and popped it open to reveal a shimmering silver bracelet with circular loops connecting it.  
  
  
“How kind of him,” Alice commented dryly, “It’s amazing how he always knows exactly what you want.”  
  
  
“I know,” Anya replied with a smile to herself as she put the box back in the bag, “He’s such a sweetie.”  
  
  
Alice rolled her eyes at Tara, who just stifled a laugh and stood up.  
  
  
“I’ll go get us sandwiches. What would you guys like?”  
  
  
“I’ll just have a Turkey club, Tara,” Alice smiled, “Thanks.”  
  
  
“Italian sausage and relish,” Anya replied with a smile.  
  
  
Tara went up to the deli counter and ordered the two sandwiches, along with a tuna melt for herself along with three waters. When she arrived back at the table, she saw Anya was holding a magazine open and reading something from it, while Alice was shaking her head but had an amused smile on her face.  
  
  
“What’s happening?” Tara asked curiously as she set the tray of food and drinks down.  
  
  
“Finding out who has the best sex life,” Anya replied casually, holding up the magazine and revealing it to be ‘Cosmo’ before grinning, “And I’m winning.”  
  
  
“Only because I thought ‘Tequila Sunrise’ was a drink and not a sex position,” Alice replied with a good-natured roll of her eyes, “Alright, what’s the last question?”  
  
  
Anya ran a finger down the page before tapping it.  
  
  
“Okay, how many times in the past year have you faked an orgasm?”  
  
  
Tara almost choked on air, thankful she hadn’t started eating yet; shocked, not least of all because of the public setting they were in, although thankfully no one seemed to be paying attention to them and even more thankfully, there were no children around.  
  
  
“Uh, I guess...” Alice closed her eyes for a moment in thought, grinning slightly, “Not often. Jesse certainly knows how to use it. Maybe 3?”  
  
  
Anya nodded understandably.  
  
  
“I think I’m around the same. I normally make Xander continue doing whatever if his penis doesn’t get me there, but if I'm just exhausted and it's not happening, I give him a pass.”  
  
  
Alice gave a quiet giggle before both women turned to Tara, looking at her expectantly. Tara’s eyebrows shot up and she shook her head.  
  
  
“You should know better than to even ask me that. Mine and Willow’s sex life is private.”  
  
  
“Don’t be such a prude,” Alice gently teased, “It’s just us girls.”  
  
  
“Yes, sharing sexual stories is a common form of female bonding,” Anya added knowledgably, “If that doesn’t convince you, consider this peer pressure.”  
  
  
Tara brought a hand up to rest the side of her head on her palm and sighed, rolling her eyes.  
  
  
“I haven’t.”  
  
  
Alice quirked an eyebrow in suspicion.  
  
  
“You haven’t faked an orgasm once in the past year?”  
  
  
Tara blushed and cleared her throat before speaking in a whisper.  
  
  
“I’ve never faked an orgasm, ever. I’ve never had to. Not that I would. Now can we please move on?”  
  
  
Both Anya and Alice looked between each other and their friend in shock for a moment before speaking at the same time.  
  
  
“Tara wins.”  
  
  
Tara blushed even more and picked up her sandwich to change the subject.  
  
  
“Let’s eat.”  
  
  
Anya stared at Tara for another moment before muttering ‘lucky’, then putting the magazine down and the table and picked up her sandwich, giving an appreciative moan as she took a bite.  
  
  
“I love sausage,” she said as she swallowed.  
  
  
Both Tara and Alice’s eyes widened as they waited for their friend to follow that up with some phallic reference, but she didn’t. They just looked at each other and smiled before tucking into their own sandwiches.  
  
  
They chatted as they ate their lunch; Tara very grateful that the discussion didn’t turn to either hers or anyone else’s sex lives.  
  
  
When they finished, they made their way to their respective cars and each drove towards the Rosenberg-Maclay house.  
  
  
“Why didn’t we carpool?” Tara muttered to herself as she parked her car in their driveway.  
  
  
She didn’t dwell on the thought, just happy about that year’s ‘Shop Club’ being over. She wasn’t sure whether her or Willow would go next year, but smiled when she thought that they’d have a 4 month old baby to buy for as well.  
  
  
She stepped out of the car and left the bags of gifts in the trunk, planning on bringing them in later when JJ was asleep so he wouldn’t see them. She heard echoing car door slams as Anya and Alice exited their cars and the three women walked towards the house and Tara opened the front door.  
  
  
“Guys, we’re home,” she called as she let the other two through the door.  
  
  
There was the sound of running around before JJ and Alex suddenly skidded into the foyer, giddy grins on their faces as their hair stuck up in a more noticeably northern direction than it ever would normally.  
  
  
“Oh my god,” Alice said, setting her jaw and shaking her head as she turned to look at Tara, “What did I tell you? Mohawks! I should have known having him join these two would just add ammunition, not stop him. I swear, if my daughter has one...”  
  
  
Alice’s eyes widened as Willow, Jesse and Xander followed the boys from the kitchen; Ella in her father’s arms. With her small tufts of brown hair sticking upwards and greasy with hair gel.  
  
  
While Alice seemed horrified, Tara was highly amused. She managed to contain her laughter at the children’s new hairstyle but as soon as she saw that the adults had decided to partake in the fun as well, she burst into raucous laughter.  
  
  
Jesse and Xander just looked like sleek men from some kind of Tom Cruise movie, but Willow, her red hair lifted completely off her head and gelled to a continuous line of spikes, was quite possibly the funniest thing Tara had ever set eyes on.   
  
  
“Jesse Marvin McNally, I told you not to touch her hair,” Alice suddenly spoke, marching over to Jesse and taking Ella, “My poor baby. Let’s get this washed out.”  
  
  
“Aww, babe, she loves it,” Jesse protested, rolling his eyes and throwing a wink at everyone else as he followed Alice up the stairs, “She was laughin’ the whole time!”  
  
  
Anya smiled down at the two boys.  
  
  
“You both look very cool,” she said, giving them a thumbs up as they high-five each other and ran off to play.   
  
  
Anya then went over to Xander and placed a warm kiss on his lips.  
  
  
“What was that for?” Xander asked, grinning from ear-to-ear.  
  
  
“For the beautiful, expensive bracelet you bought me,” Anya replied before walking towards the kitchen, “I’m getting some water.”  
  
  
Xander paled considerably and quickly trailed behind his wife.  
  
  
“...Ahn? How expensive?”  
  
  
“Whaddya think, baby?” Willow grinned, walking over to her wife and wrapping her arms around her waist, “Ya like the new ‘do?”  
  
  
“Oh I love it,” Tara replied, reaching a hand up and touching it carefully, “It’ll ruin our sheets if you sleep in it though.”  
  
  
“Yea, we don’t want to have to deal with another wet spot, now do we?” Willow replied, giggling and waggling her eyebrows, “How did shopping go?”  
  
  
Tara chuckled.  
  
  
“You weren’t joking about Anya being a demon were you?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head with a playful grin.  
  
  
“Was there a whistle situation?”  
  
  
“Yep,” Tara replied with a small shudder, “But we got through it. _And_ we got the last two laptops. So even if she is insane about it, it paid off.”  
  
  
“Excellent,” Willow responded, placing a gentle kiss on her wife’s lips, “So you got all the shopping done?”  
  
  
Tara nodded.  
  
  
“I did.”  
  
  
“You’re the best,” Willow replied, “But, um, just so you know...”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow in question.  
  
  
“Yes, my dear?”  
  
  
Willow adopted the sweetest smile she could.  
  
  
“I’m still not doing the wrapping.”


	19. Chapter 19

  
“Willow, can you at least help me with the tape?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head from where she was lying on the sofa. The end of her hair were still wet from where she’d washed the gelled Mohawk out and tiny droplets were falling down the low-cut top she’d pulled on after her shower while she kept her eyes leisurely closed and rested both hands gently on top of her stomach.   
  
  
Jesse and Alice and Xander and Anya, along with their respective children, had stayed until the late afternoon before the kids started to get tired and they left, while Willow and Tara had spent the rest of the evening tidying from the chaos of mixing kids and Christmas decorations, along with hair gel and the boxes of Oreos that had been broken out and JJ amused himself with a Finding Nemo DVD and playing with his cars.  
  
  
When dinner had been eaten and JJ had his bath and was put to bed with a story, Tara had brought the presents in from the car, ready to wrap and hide before their son even knew they existed.  
  
  
Willow, however, had continued to refuse to help and was now frowning slightly at her wife’s words. She shook her head again, resolution set on her face.  
  
  
“The baby doesn’t want to.”  
  
  
Willow could feel boring eyes on her in response and cracked her eye open to see Tara staring at her from her position kneeling on the floor, surrounded by wrapping paper and JJ’s gifts, an eyebrow quirked.  
  
  
“You’re using our unborn child to get out of helping me?”  
  
  
“Tara,” Willow whined, starting to pout, “You know the last time I tried to wrap presents it ended up looking like it’d been dragged behind the car the whole way home from the toy store.”  
  
  
Tara sighed and shook her head.  
  
  
“Anytime you’ve given me a gift it’s been immaculately wrapped.”  
  
  
“Because the store did it,” Willow replied, throwing her hands up in the air, “Duh.”  
  
  
“Willow,” Tara responded and the redhead looked over to see her wife giving her one of her requisite half-smiles, “I’m not asking you to wrap. Just to help me place the tape.”  
  
  
Willow felt her whole body melt like it always did when Tara smiled at her like that and soon found herself on her knees in front of her wife, the cascade of paper and mixture of wrapped and unwrapped gifts between them. She moved to place her hand over Tara’s on top of the laptop that was being wrapped.  
  
  
“You’re hypnotic sometimes, you know that?”  
  
  
“Only sometimes?” Tara asked, her eyes shining with mirth, “I’m losing my touch.”  
  
  
“Uh uh,” Willow shook her head, turning her wife’s hand in hers and moving it up to place against the open ‘V’ of her blouse on the bare skin above her breasts, “No, your touch is perfect.”  
  
  
“Calm now,” Tara grinned as she retracted her hand, using it to give Willow the roll of tape, “Help me finish first. Then we can look more into my touch and how much you can have.”  
  
  
Willow’s whole face lit up and she hurriedly began ripping the tape off.  
  
  
“Are three inch strips big enough? How many do you need?”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and folded the wrapping paper over the laptop box.  
  
  
“One here, please.”  
  
  
Willow tore the tape off with her teeth and placed it over paper, securing it. She copied her actions as Tara folded the ends.  
  
  
“The kids did a nice job on the tree,” Tara commented as she pushed the wrapped laptop to one side and picked up the box of Lego, looking back at the Christmas tree in the corner that was decorated with mismatched and colour-clashing ornaments, but still looked quite pretty.  
  
  
Willow scowled slightly.  
  
  
“I helped.”  
  
  
Tara looked up with a wry grin.  
  
  
“You all did a great job.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied almost smugly, placing more tape down on the paper, “And you did a great job with the presents. You didn’t even come home with any bruises.”  
  
  
“Fanatical she may be,” Tara replied with a laugh, “But you can’t say Anya’s isn’t efficient.”  
  
  
“It’s impressive how she manages to get blueprints to the stores,” Willow nodded in agreement, “Nothing I couldn’t get in two minutes hacking into the City Hall website, but flirting for information is a valuable skill too.”  
  
  
Tara quirked one eyebrow at her wife.  
  
  
“Be nice.”  
  
  
“I am being nice!” Willow protested, “I’m not calling her a...a floozy or anything, I’m just saying that knowing how to communicate with people in a way that gets you what you want is a good thing.”  
  
  
Willow help her chin high and saw Tara smirk slightly.  
  
  
“Floozy?”  
  
  
“It’s a word,” Willow defended, “A great word. It has just the right connotations for what it means without sounding overtly crass and therefore can be used in the right kind of polite company.”  
  
  
Tara took the piece of ripped tape hanging from Willow’s finger and placed it over the final fold of the last present.  
  
  
“I’m not going to argue the semantics of a word with you,” she said with a smile as she piled the presents on top of each other, “I’ll never win. I’ll go put these away.”  
  
  
“I’ll do it,” Willow offered cheerily, standing up and picking up the pile of presents between her two hands, “Our room or the closet under the stairs?”  
  
  
“Closet,” Tara answered as she straightened up, “There’s no room in ours. Do you need any help?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head and made her way towards the door.  
  
  
“I got it. They're not heavy.”  
  
  
Tara walked over to the sofa and flopped down onto it, closing her eyes and stretching her back muscles.  
  
  
“How was your morning sickness today, sweetheart?” she called out, loudly enough for Willow to hear from the foyer, “Is that ginger tea I got helping at all? I can give you a back rub if you wa–”  
  
  
She cut herself off as she felt two knees come to rest either side of her legs and opened her eyes in time to see Willow sit back on her lap and rest her hands on her shoulders.  
  
  
“I want you to rub something but it’s not my back,” Willow said lasciviously, licking her lips as Tara’s hands instinctively moved around her body to cup her ass and keep her in place, “And I wanna kiss that beautiful neck.”  
  
  
Tara tilted her neck to the side as the redhead started dropping kisses along her skin and sighed in satisfaction at the sudden turn of events.  
  
  
“Baby hormones?”  
  
  
“No,” Willow’s muffled voice filled the blonde’s ears, “‘You’re sexy’ hormones.”  
  
  
Tara murmured an approval and lolled her neck to the side even more, unintentionally casting her eyes downward and for the first time noticing that whatever way Willow’s shirt was falling on her, her breasts looked more generously proportioned than usual.   
  
  
“Are you wearing a new bra?” she questioned, curiosity evident in her tone.  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked, pulling her head back in confusion, “No. Why, can you not unhook it?”  
  
  
“I haven’t tried yet,” Tara replied with an intrigued look on her face before she focused back on her wife, “Kissing, please.”  
  
  
“You got it,” Willow grinned, the blonde’s odd question gone from her mind as she attached her lips to the blonde's.  
  
  
Tara moaned as Willow’s tongue slipped between her lips and moved her hands upwards and under the redhead’s shirt, caressing the soft skin of the small of her back gently. Her fingers dug more deeply into her wife’s flesh as she felt Willow’s tongue bathe her own until the smaller girl suddenly pulled back, her eyes considerably darkened in desire.  
  
  
Willow took heavy breaths into her lungs and smirked at her wife before slowly sinking down between the taller girl’s knees. Tara felt a shiver of anticipation move up her spine but cast a cautious glance at the living room door.  
  
  
Willow noticed and understanding her wife’s concern, placed a hand on either of the blonde’s knees under her skirt, pulling them apart just slightly to get Tara to focus back on her, too focused on what she wanted to do to try and wait.  
  
  
“He won’t wake up. We won’t take any clothes off just in case.”  
  
  
Tara didn’t need much convincing and settled back against the cushions, letting her eyes flutter closed. Willow grinned and pushed the fabric on her wife’s skirt up to her mid-thigh, keeping Tara covered enough that she wouldn’t be in any way exposed should a certain little boy wander downstairs. She licked her lips as she moved the material up and kissed each piece of exposed skin as it was revealed. As Tara’s heady scent started to filter up to her nostrils, she slipped her hand between her lover’s thighs to pull the fabric of her panties to one side.  
  
  
She moaned as she saw her wife’s intimate flesh come into view, shadowed by the skirt still securely around her waist and thighs, but still the wanton, wet pink colour that sent a flood of arousal to Willow’s core.  
  
  
She went to move her head beneath Tara’s skirt, but struggled to lean far enough in while her hand still took up room. She retracted her fingers hold on the blonde’s panties and tried again to push her head forwards, but with little success as the confining material of the skirt only allowed the taller girl’s legs to stretch so far apart.  
  
  
Tara readjusted herself in confusion as she felt the odd sensation of Willow trying to push more into her until she felt the redhead’s hands on her inner thighs, pushing them apart. Understanding, she spread her legs as far as she could, again feeling Willow’s head slip beneath her skirt, but still not as far as she needed until the pushing feeling stopped and she heard a frustrated groan.  
  
  
She opened her eyes to see Willow glaring at her thighs, her face flushed and a piece of hair sticking on top of her head.  
  
  
“This skirt was not designed for easy access!” Willow griped, smoothing a hand down the back of her hair, “I’ve never had this much trouble trying to go down on you.”  
  
  
Tara held back a grin.  
  
  
“Well then why don’t you take me upstairs to our nice, private bedroom?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow, “Private enough that you can strip me and do whatever you like without getting your head stuck.”  
  
  
“I can think of worse places to get my head stuck,” Willow replied, her eyes twinkling as she stood up and grabbed both of her wife’s hands, “But I like the stripping you part. Quickly, though. I want you so bad.”  
  
  
She pulled Tara up beside her and starting leading her from the living room, their pace getting faster as they bounded up the stairs and towards their bedroom, closing the door behind them before reaching out and taking two fistfuls of her wife’s shirt.  
  
  
“This needs to go,” she said before she crushed their lips together and worked her fingers down her lover’s shirt, undoing each button with deft ease as she backed them towards the bed.  
  
  
Just as she felt Tara about to fall back onto the mattress, she grabbed a hold of her hips and spun them around so she was the one to sink onto the bed, breaking their kiss in the process. She brought her hands around to her wife’s lower back and yanked the loosened material of her shirt off with one quick tug, letting it fall to the floor.  
  
  
With Tara’s smooth stomach on display, she started lavishing kisses all over the soft skin while her hands moved behind the blonde, dragging the zipper down on the taller girl’s skirt so it dropped around her ankles.  
  
  
“Finally,” Willow murmured against her lover’s skin as she fingers hooked into the waistband of Tara’s panties, “Bye bye.”  
  
  
She dragged her wife’s panties down her toned legs and felt her wife step out of the pool of fabric by her feet, kicking them backwards.  
  
  
Tara groaned in pleasure as she felt Willow start to nuzzle against her curls, feeling her hot breath blow against her heated flesh. She brought her hands behind herself, unhooking her own bra and throwing it to the floor, the swell of arousal in her breasts and friction against her nipples making it uncomfortable to keep it on.  
  
  
Willow brushed her lips against her wife’s nether ones and moaned when she felt some of the blonde’s desire seep out of her lover and fall onto her tongue. Needing more, she slipped between Tara’s lips and ran it around her soft folds.  
  
  
“Uhhh, Willow...” Tara moaned, her hips instinctively pushing forwards, “Mmmhhh, yes...”  
  
  
Willow swirled her tongue along and around her wife’s wet flesh before suddenly pulling back, to a disappointed groan from the blonde.  
  
  
“Why...” Tara groaned softly, “Why do you always tease me?”  
  
  
“Because you love it,” Willow replied, running one finger around her mouth to gather the blonde’s juices that had spilled out there before sucking it into her mouth. She saw her wife’s legs begin to shake and grabbed her outer thighs securely before grinning up at her, “You wanted privacy and stripping. I stripped you...so now it’s your turn.”  
  
  
Tara seemed less disappointed and a lot more pleased at that and dropped to her knees, her hands going straight to Willow’s pants as she popped the button and pulled the sides so the zipper fell down. She brushed her fingers against the fabric of the redhead’s panties and moaned at the wetness she could feel already seeping though them.  
  
  
Willow leant back on her palms and lifted her hips as she felt Tara start to tug her pants and panties off of her, helping by kicking the fabric off completely as it fell down from her knees. She watched Tara lick her lips and spread her thighs to give her a better view.  
  
  
Tara ran her fingers along her wife’s outer thighs and gazed at the redhead’s molten core for a few moments, full intending to pay back the smaller girl’s teasing in a similar manner, but wanted her naked first.   
  
  
She looked up with a grin and took a hold of the hem of her lover’s shirt, slowly pulling it upwards, before suddenly stopping in surprise, Willow’s head and arms caught up in the fabric, when the redhead’s bra-encased breasts came into view and Tara was once again wide-eyed as she saw how much fuller they looked than normal.  
  
  
“Tara...” Willow’s confused and muffled voice broke through the blonde’s thoughts a few moments later, “Baby, we can have a lot more fun if I have control of my hands and mouth.”  
  
  
Tara dragged her gaze upwards and quickly whipped her wife’s shirt the rest of the way off.  
  
  
“What distracted you?” Willow asked with a small laugh.  
  
  
“You,” Tara replied with a salacious grin and a heavy undertone as she tapped her fingers up the redhead’s back and quickly divested her of her bra, “You’re very sexy.”  
  
  
Willow grinned back and waggled her eyebrows.  
  
  
“Oh real–” she started to ask before suddenly finding herself pushed up on the bed with a warm body on top of her and a hot mouth around her nipple, “Whoa! Oh! Ohhhhh...”  
  
  
She arched her back as teeth scraped across her hardening peak and let out a low, guttural moan as Tara’s mouth engulfed her entire breast while an eager hand began to greedily palm the other, rolling her nipple between dextrous fingers.  
  
  
Willow tossed her head from side to side against the pillow as she shut her eyes tightly, loving the fervent attention being lavished on her breasts and entwined a hand in her wife’s blonde locks, holding her firmly in place as the taller girl’s teeth and tongue sent overwhelming jolts of pleasure straight to her core.  
  
  
As throaty sounds of desire escaped her lips, she started to become aware that she wasn’t the only one making noises of pleasure; loud moans reverberating around her breast from Tara’s mouth and rising to her ears. Willow grunted softly and tightened her fingers in her wife’s hair.  
  
  
“Mmhh, yea baby,” she called down with another moan as she moved her thigh around beneath her wife, eventually connecting with Tara’s center. Her eyes flew open as she felt the sheer amount of arousal spilling out of her lover, “Holy...”  
  
  
She glanced down at the top of Tara’s head, moving up and down as her mouth attacked the redhead’s breast, and softly pulled at the top of her hair.  
  
  
“Baby...”  
  
  
Tara just continued her actions so Willow pulled a little harder, managing to pull her wife up completely. Tara let out a frustrated groan and stretched down so she could continue placing wet kisses all over the redhead’s breast.  
  
  
“Baby, what’s happening?” Willow asked breathlessly.  
  
  
“Willow, come on, we’ve been doing this for years,” Tara mumbled in response between kisses before again feeling the insistent tugging on her hair again and very reluctantly raised her head, bringing her second hand up so both were massaging her lover’s breasts. She looked down at the redhead with kind eyes, “Are you okay?”  
  
  
“I’m...I’m amazing,” Willow replied, her eyes blinking rapidly in quick succession, “You’re moaning.”  
  
  
Tara looked confused.  
  
  
“Do I not always moan?”  
  
  
“Yes, of course,” Willow replied as she looked Tara in the eye, “But _that_ kinda moaning is normally reserved for when I...you know... _get down_. And you’re...really, really, _really_ wet.”  
  
  
“Yes,” Tara replied with a small grin, “I know. So why did you stop me?”  
  
  
“Because I wanna know what I’m doing!” Willow responded as a blush rose in her cheeks, “What’s getting you so hot?”  
  
  
Tara’s grin got wider and she squeezed both of her wife’s breasts.  
  
  
“You. You always get me hot, Willow.”  
  
  
“There’s something extra tonight though,” Willow replied, clearly not willing to let the issue go, despite the fact that more and more arousal was coursing through her with each passing second, “It is...it is me, right?”  
  
  
Tara, for the first time since she’d rid her wife of her top layers, released her hold on Willow’s chest and moved to lie alongside her, stroking the side of her hair. Willow blushed again and dropped her gaze.  
  
  
“Stupid Willow,” she mumbled to herself, “Your wife is all over you and just have to open your mouth and put your big foot in it. Can we just forget I said anything and go back to the touching and the moaning? I won't ask anymore-”  
  
  
“Willow, stop,” Tara chastised softly, “Of course it’s you. It’s always you. Never anyone but you.”  
  
  
“Okay...” Willow replied, seeming pleased at that answer and turning her head to smile at her wife, “So what am I doing? 'Cause I'll keep doing it. Just 'cause we've been together so long doesn't mean we can't keep learning things. What do you want me to do?”  
  
  
Tara dropped her hand to her wife's cheek and stroked the skin under her thumb.  
  
  
“Honey, I don't want you to _do_ anything. There's no way you could improve how much you know my body and how to touch me.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in acceptance of that answer, but still looked slightly quizzical.  
  
  
“So you're just really, really horny? Nothing's changed to...make it more?” she asked, her cheeks flushing again, “Tara, you're _so_ wet.”  
  
  
It was Tara’s turn to blush and she cleared her throat slightly and took her hand from Willow's cheek, gesturing downwards.  
  
  
“Have you noticed you’ve kind of...gotten a little...larger in the chest area?”  
  
  
Willow did a small double-take and glanced down, bringing one hand up to palm her own breast.  
  
  
“Uh, I did have to loosen my straps this morning, but I didn’t really think anything of it...” she replied before whipping her head around to Tara, wide-eyed as a slow grin spread on her face, “Wait, you’re saying the reason you’re so excited is because my boobs got bigger?”  
  
  
Tara dropped her gaze and Willow burst into quiet laughter.  
  
  
“God, baby, you’re such a guy!”  
  
  
“Watch it,” Tara responded, blushing harder but grinning, “And you can hardly talk, Mrs. Self-Proclaimed-Breast-Gal.”  
  
  
“Looks like there’s two of us now,” Willow replied, smirking even more, “Hey, you think I’d fit into one of your bras?”  
  
  
Tara shrugged one shoulder.  
  
  
“Maybe. You can try one on tomorrow.”  
  
  
Willow didn’t respond, distracted as she cupped her own breasts and smiled as her fingers didn’t reach the whole way around like they had before.  
  
  
“Hello, ladies.”  
  
  
She pushed them up and let them bounce on her chest with a giggle before glancing up at Tara who was looking at her in amusement.  
  
  
“Can I get back to it now?”  
  
  
Willow nodded as she grinned and brought her hands up to rest under her head, proudly thrusting her chest out.  
  
  
“Uh huh. Enjoy them, they’re not gonna be big forever.”  
  
  
“I always enjoy them,” Tara replied as she started kissing downwards from her wife’s collarbone, “There’s just more to enjoy now.”  
  
  
Willow let out a soft moan as Tara’s tongue re-took her nipple, all the while grinning to herself. She gave herself over to the pleasure completely, feeling unbelievably wanted and happy they could both enjoy this new side effect of her pregnancy.   
  
  
She also remembered from both Alice and Anya's pregnancies of the women complaining how sore their breasts became after a while and was fully intending to make the most of being able to enjoy their sensitive nature before it got too much.  
  
  
After several bliss-filled minutes she started to feel her wife begin to grind her hips towards her body and a new kind of want took over. She licked her lips to give them some moisture and started to try and speak between moans.  
  
  
“Mmhh, I don’t...uhhh, mmmhhh...I don’t wanna pull you away again, baby, but... ahhh ... mmhh ... oh! Mmhh, I need to feel you too...”  
  
  
Willow jerked in surprise when quick as a flash she found Tara’s lips lifted from her chest, attaching themselves to her own lips. It only took her a second to begin to respond though, auto-pilot taking over as her hands roamed up and down her wife’s back and over the curve of her butt, moaning as she felt the taller girl’s chest pressing firmly into hers, giving her the contact her shocked-at-being-abandoned nipples had been crying out for.  
  
  
She eagerly cupped both of her lover’s buttocks, squeezing her flesh and pulling her upwards slightly until Tara’s wet heat came into contact with her thigh again.  
  
  
“Yes,” she called out quietly, throwing her head back against the pillows, “Mmhh...”  
  
  
Tara used her now-free lips to trail kisses down the redhead’s neck as she rolled her hips against her wife’s thigh, searching for some friction on her throbbing clit.  
  
  
“I love you,” she almost whispered as she placed feather-light kisses across the smaller girl’s throat to the other side of her neck.  
  
  
“You just love my rack,” Willow’s replied, her tone playful. She felt Tara smile against her skin and dug her fingers into the flesh beneath their tips, “You better still like ‘em when they’re not all pumped up with pregnancy hormones.”  
  
  
“I dunno,” Tara replied, bringing her head up so they were face-to-face and grinning, “I’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like to have a wife with big jugs, I don’t know if I can just go back...”  
  
  
Willow turned her nose up in mock-indignation.  
  
  
“A lesser woman would make you sleep on the couch for referring to my breasts as ‘jugs’.”  
  
  
Tara leaned down and turned the redhead’s face towards hers again by nuzzling their noses together.  
  
  
“I’m lucky I don’t have a lesser woman then. I have my woman.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly and brought one hand up to massage the back of her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“I love you, too.”  
  
  
Tara smiled back and pressed her lips lightly against her lover’s before pulling back.  
  
  
“You know I love them because they’re yours, right?” she asked gently, “Shape, size, colour, freckle count...I don’t care what changes; as long as they’re a part of you, I won’t be able to resist.”  
  
  
“I know,” Willow replied with a small smile, “Someone managed to wind their way into my heart and get rid of all those classic Willow-insecurities quite a few years ago.”  
  
  
“Wow, this person sounds amazing,” Tara responded, one side of her lips quirking upwards.  
  
  
“She is,” Willow answered, playing along, “I kinda love her a little.”  
  
  
Tara traced a circle around her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Just a little?”  
  
  
“A lot,” Willow amended, before adding shyly, “I’d like to show her.”  
  
  
Willow brought her hand up above her shoulder, palm facing Tara as she splayed her fingers and wiggled them slightly in offering. Tara understood and entwined their fingers together.  
  
  
“She'd like to be shown.”  
  
  
She adjusted her hips so her thighs were brushing against Willow’s thighs and brought her spare hand up to lay it flat on the mattress below the pillow, keeping herself steady as the redhead brought their conjoined hands between their bodies.  
  
  
As she felt Willow’s hand fall from her clutch and slide into her abundant waiting heat, she dropped her head to capture the redhead’s lips and let her own hand follow a similar path; two sets of fingers gliding and pressing along each other’s slippery folds until Tara took the initiative and moved them down, thrusting two inside in one quick movement.  
  
  
Willow gasped in surprise at the sudden but welcome intrusion and Tara used the opportunity to push her tongue into her wife’s mouth. She felt Willow’s tongue begin to duel with her straight away, moaning as nimble fingers started to move in the same rhythm against her clit.  
  
  
Willow thrust her hips off the bed at a fast pace as she felt the fingers inside her curl and twist inside her, feeling Tara’s hips push back against her at every turn. She increased the speed of her rubbing over her wife’s pleasure nub, the blonde’s copious wetness causing her to slip off a couple of times but she quickly got back on track.  
  
  
It didn’t take long for both women to begin to near the edge. Willow could tell Tara was close as the speed of her lover’s bucking hips became almost animal in pace and she dropped her fingers, thrusting three inside her wife and stretching them out inside, causing instant flutterings that changed into echoing contractions a nano-second later.  
  
  
As the blonde’s inner muscles squeezed her tightly and hotly, Willow felt Tara bite down on her lip, lightly so that it didn’t hurt her but enough to keep her from screaming out and with a final thrust, felt her insides explode as well, colours and lights dancing everywhere as her body tensed and teeth clenched.  
  
  
Tara was the first one to regain control of her senses, releasing Willow’s lip, soothing the bottom one with gentle tongue movements and taking some deep breaths before lifting her hips off of the redhead’s fingers and gently extracting her own, then rolling onto the bed beside her wife.   
  
  
She let out a satisfied sigh and brought her fingers up to her mouth, sucking them into her mouth individually until she’d cleaned them of her lover’s juices and let her arm fall down by her side again. She glanced over at Willow and thought momentarily that her wife might be asleep but that illusion was broken a moment later as Tara saw the redhead’s arm reach out, the back of her hand hitting the blonde’s stomach.  
  
  
“Snuggle me.”  
  
  
“Hitting me is not a conducive way to get a cuddle,” Tara replied dryly.  
  
  
Willow cracked an eye open and adopted a puppy-dog expression.  
  
  
“Please snuggle me?”  
  
  
Tara smiled and started to shuffle onto her side.  
  
  
“You know I can’t resist those eyes.”  
  
  
“Fail-proof,” Willow agreed with a happy smile.  
  
  
Tara began to gather her wife in her arms and grinned to herself.  
  
  
“Let’s just hope I can get my arms around you, Booberella.”


	20. Chapter 20

  
  
“One tall glass of milk,” Tara announced as she walked into the living room, carrying said item. She caught sight of her wife and son standing near the fire, both of them trying to conceal the fact that their faces were stuffed, with what had once been a full plate of Oreos but was now just a few black crumbs, sitting on the mantelpiece between them. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, “I knew I couldn’t trust you two with a plate of cookies.”  
  
  
“Sorry, Mommy.”  
  
  
“Sorry, Tara.”  
  
  
Two sheepish voices spoke at the same as both Willow and JJ swallowed their mouthfuls of pilfered Oreos. Tara placed the glass of milk down on the coffee table and folded her arms over her chest, adopting her best stern pose.  
  
  
“Now what’s Santa going to eat when he comes down the chimney and gets hungry from lifting all those presents?”  
  
  
JJ’s brow furrowed as he contemplated the question and he started to jump up and down on the balls of his feet, his toes wiggling out the end of his pyjamas.  
  
  
“There’s more, right, Mommy?”  
  
  
Tara remained blasé, shrugging her shoulders slightly.  
  
  
“I don’t know...” she replied, though she knew well there was still half a pack of Oreos lying on the kitchen counter, “You better go check.”  
  
  
JJ scurried off; worry and intent etched on his features and Tara dropped her arms before giving her wife a pointed look.   
  
  
“You couldn’t have waited 30 minutes ‘til he was in bed? You were going to be the one eating them anyway.”  
  
  
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Willow replied with an adorable smile, “Santa was.”  
  
  
Tara smiled internally but kept her exterior rigid.  
  
  
“Willow...”  
  
  
“No sane woman can resist the layered, creamy temptation of an Oreo,” Willow argued before seeing the blonde’s unrelenting look, “The baby wanted one?”  
  
  
The smile finally broke on Tara’s face, her eyes lighting up at the mere mention of the growing life inside her wife’s belly.   
  
  
“You can’t use that excuse forever, you know.”  
  
  
“I know,” Willow replied, her smile widening, “But I can for the next 8 months.”  
  
  
Tara let out a low, jovial laugh and walked towards her wife, hooking her fingers into the redhead’s pants and pulling the smaller girl towards her. She placed one hand on Willow’s hip while the other moved up to her face, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.  
  
  
“You most certainly can.”  
  
  
“In that case,” Willow replied with a grin as she wrapped her arms around the blonde’s neck, “The baby wants Momma to get a kiss.”  
  
  
Tara leant forwards slightly, but not enough to press their lips together, instead just smirking.  
  
  
“If he or she is this demanding in the womb, we’ll have to deal with a very fussy child with when they come out.”   
  
  
Willow tightened her arms around Tara’s neck and gave her a pointed look.  
  
  
“You’ll have a very fussy wife if you don’t kiss me in the next three seconds.”  
  
  
“Well I can’t have that,” Tara replied and started to inch their lips slowly closer together as she lowered her voice to a whisper, “Three...two...”  
  
  
The last word was swallowed as she finally let her lips connect with her wife’s. Willow instantly pulled their bodies even further together so they were as flush with one another as they could be while standing and started to push her tongue forwards when the sound of bare feet on the wooden floors rung through the room, swiftly followed by a small and excited voice that made them pull apart.  
  
  
“There’s more, there’s more!! And Santa can have them all!”  
  
  
JJ shook the bag of Oreos in his hand, the cookies jostling against the side of the plastic and thrust it towards his mothers. Tara took the bag and placed it on top of the plate on the mantelpiece.  
  
  
“I’m sure he’ll love his snack,” she smiled down at her son, “Bedtime now to make sure that he comes!”  
  
  
JJ nodded, his eyes and face lit up in excitement before he let the sides of his lips curve upwards and flashed his teeth in a charming smile.   
  
  
“Mommy, Momma...”  
  
  
Willow and Tara exchanged amused glanced and Willow grinned down at the boy.  
  
  
“Yes...?”  
  
  
JJ put his hands together behind his back and started moving his foot back and forth on the floor beneath him, while his eyes sunk into a puppy-dog pose.  
  
  
“Can I have a story _and_ a song tonight? Pretty please??”  
  
  
Both women laughed and Tara bent down to scoop JJ up in her arms.  
  
  
“I think we can manage that,” she answered as the boy wrapped his arm around his blonde mother’s neck to keep him steady, “You certainly know how to pout.”  
  
  
JJ giggled as he buried his head against Tara’s chest.  
  
  
“Momma says it gets you to do whatever we want.”  
  
  
“Oh really?” Tara asked, quirking an eyebrow at Willow, “Does she?”  
  
  
Willow laughed nervously.  
  
  
“Kids say the darndest things, huh?” she asked as she cleared her throat, and feigned shock as she looked at her watch, “Wow, look how late it is! We better get you into bed quickly so Santa has time to deliver the presents!”  
  
  
She steamrolled ahead then, marching out of the living room and towards the stairs. JJ started giggling again.  
  
  
“Momma’s silly.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and pressed her lips against her son’s forehead as she started to follow Willow’s path.  
  
  
“Momma’s very silly. But we love her.”  
  
  
JJ nodded in agreement as he was carried upstairs and into his room, where he saw Willow hovering over his bookcase. Already knowing what story he wanted, he quickly called out.  
  
  
“Night Before Christmas!”  
  
  
“Way ahead of ya, little man,” Willow answered, spinning around with the large, flat and brightly decorated book in hand, “Come on, let’s get all cosy.”  
  
  
“Ah, teeth first,” Tara said quickly and JJ frowned.  
  
  
“I already brushed my teeth.”  
  
  
“And then had an Oreo binge,” Tara replied as she turned and started walking them towards the bathroom, “So you need to do them again.”  
  
  
JJ scowled but didn’t argue as Tara set him on the floor and he stood on his stand so he could reach the sink, reaching for his toothbrush and special toothpaste, brushing his teeth speedily, forgoing his usual song in favour of getting the task done quickly. Tara supervised from the doorway until JJ put his toothbrush back in its holder and jumped down from the stand; grabbing Tara’s hand as he rushed out of the bathroom and dragged her into his bedroom.  
  
  
Willow was already sitting on the end of the bed, flicking through the book in her hands, but quickly stood up and smiled when she saw the two re-enter the room.  
  
  
“Come on, get cosy!”  
  
  
JJ scurried over to his bed and slipped under the sheet, settling his head comfortably against the pillows as Willow and Tara lay either side of him, on their sides so they could fit on the small bed.  
  
  
Willow held the book above her with one hand, while the other went to the top of JJ’s head, stroking his hair softly as she began to read.  
  
  
“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there...”  
  
  
JJ smiled as her felt the comfort of his mothers surrounding him and the images of dancing sugarplums, reindeer and Santa flashed before his eyes with more than a hint of excitement. He listened intently as Willow continued the story with just the right amount of animation in her tone until he started to recognise the final passage.  
  
  
“He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle. And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight–”  
  
  
Both JJ and Tara joined in for the last line.  
  
  
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”  
  
  
JJ giggled as Tara tickled his stomach slightly above the covers and Willow closed the book, placing it on the floor by the bed.  
  
  
“What song would you like?” Tara asked as she dotted her fingers up her son’s chest and onto his face, tapping his nose affectionately.  
  
  
JJ thought for a moment before shrugging.  
  
  
“Christmas song?”  
  
  
“Sing that [Christmas lullaby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdvL-TbjAhQ),” Willow suggested quietly as she reached over and entwined her fingers with her wife’s, letting their conjoined hands rest between them, over JJ’s legs, “The one from that old Barbra Streisand album you have.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she took a moment to recollect the lyrics before looking down at JJ and began to sing softly.  
  
  
  
 _This is a Christmas Lullaby,  
To steal you softly into dreaming,  
A simple Christmas lullaby,  
I sing to you each passing year.  
  
The world is wrapped in joy and wonder,   
In silent mystery,  
And in this spell that we are under,  
Blessings surround our hearts completely.  
  
This is a Christmas Lullaby,  
For someone lovely as snow falling,  
I sing your Christmas Lullaby,  
To cradle you with all–_  
  
  
Tara stopped momentarily as she glanced over at Willow, who was staring right back at her adoringly, and changed the next line to be appropriately pluralised.   
  
  
  
_Our love._  
  
  
  
Willow smiled widely as Tara put emphasis on the changed ‘our’ from its original ‘my’ and squeezed her hand before they both looked back at their son, who had a warm smile on his face and heavy lids. Willow leant down to place a kiss against his temple as Tara started to croon again.  
  
  
 _Let peace on earth be yours tonight,  
Under the star that shines so bright.  
  
The world is wrapped in joy and wonder,   
In silent mystery,  
And in this spell that we are under,  
Blessings surround our hearts completely._  
  
  
  
JJ was almost completely asleep, his eyes fluttering momentarily as he fought to stay awake for the whole song, but the soft and soothing tone soon lulled him into complete slumber as Tara’s melodic voice continued.  
  
  
  
 _Now close your eyes and as you sigh,  
Make up a Christmas wish to dream on,  
And like the moon that shines on high,  
Send out your wish up to that star in the sky,  
Blessed by this Christmas lullaby..._  
  
  
  
Tara trailed off as she watched JJ’s chest rise and fall in a steady pattern until Willow’s whispering voice drew her attention away.  
  
  
“I love you, Mrs. Me.”  
  
  
Tara quirked her lips up in a half-smile.  
  
  
“I love being Mrs. You,” Tara replied in the same hushed tone before leaning forwards slightly. They met in a soft kiss halfway between their sleeping son for a moment before pulling apart, “And I love just you.”  
  
  
They shared a smile for a moment before Willow nodded towards the doorway. Tara nodded back and they separated their hands for just a moment as they carefully stood up from the mattress, re-interlacing their fingers as Willow walked around the bed.  
  
  
They started to walk out of the room, Tara bending down to switch on the nightlight before leaving completely and walking down the stairs where they collapsed onto the sofa together; Willow lying down and throwing her leg over Tara’s legs.  
  
  
“Hey, baby, sorry about the whole pout thing,” Willow piped up as she settled into the comfortable cuddling position, “I only said what I said as a joke, I didn’t think he’d remember.”  
  
  
Tara ran her hands up and down her wife’s clothed legs and turned her head so they were looking at each other.  
  
  
“Willow, whether he’s learning to tie his laces or learn his lefts and rights...or how to manipulate me with those big, green eyes...” she started, grinning as Willow blushed, “Honey, I’m just happy he has you to teach him. That he has you as a mother.”  
  
  
Willow’s blush deepened but she couldn’t help a small grin.  
  
  
“I’m happy you’re my baby mama too.”  
  
  
Tara gave a quiet laugh and squeezed the redhead’s shin before standing up and putting Willow’s legs back on the sofa. The smaller girl made a sound of disapproval, but didn’t get a chance to speak as Tara picked up the glass of milk from the coffee table and took the plate of Oreos from the mantelpiece, handing them both to her wife.  
  
  
“I’ll go get his present. You enjoy being Santa.”  
  
  
Willow perked up a little at that and dipped a hand into the bag of Oreos, dunking the cookie into the cold liquid and popping it into her mouth. She watched Tara disappear into the foyer and heard the sound of the closet there being opened. The blonde appeared back in the room, carrying the wrapped laptop that was JJ’s ‘Santa’ gift, wrapped in different paper to the rest of his presents that was already under the Christmas tree.  
  
  
“There’s one more,” Willow said through a mouthful of cookie as Tara put the box under the tree, separated from the rest of the gifts that were explicitly from them, “In the drawer in the coffee table.”  
  
  
Tara’s features contorted in confusion but walked over to the coffee table, pulling out the drawer and seeing a neatly wrapped, small but bulky box sitting inside. She picked it up and held it towards her wife.  
  
  
“What’s this?”  
  
  
Willow slurped the last of her milk and set the glass aside before frowning.  
  
  
“Did I forget to tell you again? Stupid baby brain is worse than morning sickness,” she mumbled to herself before taking the box from Tara and smiling at it softly, “I got him a watch. I thought I could start helping him learn how to tell the time.”  
  
  
“That’s a great idea,” Tara replied warmly as she took the present back and deposited it under the tree before retaking her position on the sofa, “He’ll love it.”  
  
  
“Hope so,” Willow responded, before giving the blonde a playful smile, “Your wife would love a foot rub right about now...”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and pulled each of the redhead’s socks off before she started to sink her fingertips into the skin on the sole of the smaller girl’s feet. Willow gave a small moan of appreciation and curled her toes as she let her eyes flutter closed to enjoy the massage.  
  
  
Tara worked her fingers along Willow’s feet, squeezing and pressing with just the right amount of pressure until she glanced over at the redhead and saw that her breath was coming out in a steady, even rhythm. She grinned to herself before yanking her wife’s legs down the sofa and further onto her lap, causing Willow to jolt into consciousness.   
  
  
Tara laughed at the startled look on her face before squeezing her legs through her jeans.  
  
  
“Come on. Let’s be ridiculously boring and go to bed early.”  
  
  
Willow blinked a few times in confusion before registering her wife’s words and nodding.  
  
  
“God only knows what time he’s gonna wake us up tomorrow morning. We’ll need at least some rest if we’re going to manage cooking and having everyone over for the day.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“We’ll need to get used to being woken up in the middle of the night.”  
  
  
Willow moved her hands over her stomach.  
  
  
“Maybe we’ll luck out and get a quiet one.”  
  
  
Tara moved her gaze to meet her wife’s.  
  
  
“We’ve already lucked out.”  
  
  
“Yea,” Willow replied with a sappy grin as she pressed her hands against her belly, then swung her legs off of the sofa, “Bed-ly snuggles are calling.”  
  
  
She reached for Tara’s hand and pulled her up before leading them out of the living room and upstairs, turning off the lights as they passed each switch, so the only light they has as they ascended the stairs was the faint glow coming from the nightlight in JJ’s bedroom.  
  
  
“Don’t trip,” Tara whispered into the semi-darkness.  
  
  
“Tara,” Willow’s hushed but affronted voice followed a moment later, “I’ve been climbing these stairs for years, I think I’m capable of walking up them in the dark without–”  
  
  
She cut herself off as she suddenly stumbled on the top step, Tara’s quick reflexes catching her around the waist before she fell forwards completely, keeping her upright.  
  
  
“What were you saying?” Tara asked wryly.  
  
  
Willow cleared her throat and turned her head to look at her wife, her features just about visible, and gave her a sheepish smile.  
  
  
“That I love you?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara grinned as they managed the top step together and stood outside the bathroom, “Can you brush your teeth without choking on the toothbrush?”  
  
  
Willow flicked the lightswitch outside the bathroom door and Tara could see she was blushing lightly.  
  
  
“If I keep the light on.”  
  
  
Tara gave a quiet laugh and pushed them forwards to they were in the bathroom. They separated as they shared the sink to brush their teeth and go about their nightly routine. Willow finished first and disappeared into their bedroom, followed only a few moments later by Tara, who was rubbing lotion into her arms.  
  
  
Willow started undressing herself, throwing her clothes into the hamper that resided in the corner of the room and was about to slip under the covers of the bed when she noticed Tara taking something out of the dresser.  
  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
  
“Pyjamas,” Tara answered, not turning around as she shrugged her shirt from her body.  
  
  
“Pyjamas?” Willow asked in disbelief, “But...but naked snuggles.”  
  
  
Tara spun around in place and couldn’t help the lascivious grin that fell on her face when she saw her wife perched on the end of the bed, completely nude.  
  
  
“I thought we were having an early night...”  
  
  
“I don’t mean those kinda snuggles,” Willow replied with a small pout, “But we always sleep naked...at least most of the time anyway.”  
  
  
“A practice I very much enjoy,” Tara responded as she pulled the pyjama top over her chest and began buttoning it, “But do you remember last Christmas morning? He pulled the blanket right off of us and you tried to explain we were naked because we were hot? He may be a child, but even he didn’t buy we were hot in the middle of winter.”  
  
  
Willow pouted for another moment before sighing.  
  
  
“Okay. I guess we can make an exception tonight.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and threw the second pair of pyjamas she’s taken from the dresser over to her wife.  
  
  
“Look, I got us Christmas ones.”  
  
  
Willow held up the red material of the pyjamas and smiled back when she saw they were decorated with reindeer heads; not only matching the ones Tara was currently pulling on, but the same ones as JJ had on as well.  
  
  
“You bought us all matching pjs?” she asked with a giggle, “That’s so cheesy.”  
  
  
“I think it’s cute,” Tara replied, shrugging to herself, “We’ll have to buy even mini-er ones next year.”  
  
  
“Heh, mini-er,” Willow chuckled to herself as she dragged the bottoms up her legs, “That’s not even a word.”  
  
  
Tara finished dressing herself and walked over to the bed, pulling back the sheet and lying down.  
  
  
“You’re the last person who can talk about word use. You practically have your own dialect of the English language.”  
  
  
“‘Cause I’m cool,” Willow replied as she finished buttoning the pyjama top and slid into bed beside her wife.  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes playfully as her hands instinctively went to the redhead’s waist.  
  
  
“You’re a goof.”  
  
  
“Well then you’re the silly one,” Willow retorted with a giggle, “‘Cause you married a goof.”  
  
  
Tara gave a half-smile and hooked her leg over the redhead’s, pulling their lower halves together.  
  
  
“I married my soulmate.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and that and leaned forwards to bring their lips together, lightly and sweetly for a few moments, before reaching out to turn the lamp on her nightstand off, again plunging them into darkness. She manoeuvred herself so her head was tucked beneath her wife’s chin and cuddled against her body.  
  
  
“Snuggle me to sleep then, soulmate.”  
  
  
“Yes, dear,” Tara acquiesced in a monotone, though Willow could hear the mirth coming through, “Sleep well.”  
  
  
Willow sighed contentedly.   
  
  
“I will. Everyone knows Santa only comes when you’re asleep.”


	21. Chapter 21

  
  
“Mommy! Mommy! Momma! Mommy! MOMMA!”  
  
  
JJ burst into his parent’s bedroom, too excited to remember the normal rule about knocking and climbed onto their bed, jumping up and down on top of them, his hair mussed from sleep and his pyjamas hanging loosely off of him.  
  
  
“MOMMY, MOMMA, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!”  
  
  
Willow felt herself jerked from consciousness abruptly and quickly wrapped her arms around her stomach protectively.  
  
  
“Jakey, honey, watch my tummy, watch my tummy.”  
  
  
Tara, hazy from the brusque awakening, suddenly snapped into full alertness as Willow’s words rang through her ears and she pulled her arms from under the blanket, grabbing JJ and lifting him upwards, his limbs flailing into thin air.  
  
  
“JJ, be careful,” she said, harsher than she’d intended.  
  
  
The young boy was too excited to question what was happening or even register that he was being scolded as he just continued to gesture around him.  
  
  
“It’s Christmas, it’s Christmas!! Santa was here, I checked! There’s a present!”  
  
  
Tara exhaled slowly and turned her body, placing JJ on the floor beside the bed.  
  
  
“Okay, you can go back down there. We’ll be down in just a couple of minutes and you can open your presents then, alright?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and started to run out of the room.  
  
  
“Hurry!”  
  
  
The sound of his speedy footsteps could be heard on the stairs barely a second later while Tara turned back to her wife and reached a hand out to her stomach.  
  
  
“Are you okay? He didn’t kick your belly, did he?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head softly.  
  
  
“No. I think I got a slap on the chest, but he missed my belly.”  
  
  
Tara frowned.  
  
  
“He needs to be careful.”  
  
  
“It’s Christmas,” Willow replied with a small smile, “He’s excited.”  
  
  
Tara‘s features softened and she gave a quiet nod. Willow reached out and took her hand.  
  
  
“You were right about the pyjamas.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife an 'I told you so' look and grinned.  
  
  
“We better go down before he knocks the tree down or something.”  
  
  
“Good morning kiss first,” Willow replied, pulling on Tara’s hand, before glancing at the alarm clock on the nightstand and groaning, “I’m gonna need one if you expect me to actually get up at this ungodly hour.”  
  
  
Tara turned back around and smiled at her wife, leaning down and promptly bringing their lips together, intending to give her a quick peck but Willow apparently had a different idea as she felt a surge inside her and brought her hand up to Tara's cheek and opened her mouth in offering.  
  
  
Tara was unable to resist the allure of the redhead's parted lips and felt Willow moan against her as she pushed her tongue forwards and let it be sucked it into her wife's mouth. Willow forgot about any idea of getting up as she rolled Tara onto her back and tilted her head to bring their mouths even closer together; the blonde’s hands entwining in her hair and their clothed bodies pushing against each other.  
  
  
They got lost in each other as their lips nipped and tongues slid against one another until a shrill cry from downstairs made them spring apart.  
  
  
“MOMMA!! MOMMMMYYYY!!!!”  
  
  
“I guess a hyper child and presents aren’t conducive to some morning macking,” Willow sighed, closing her eyes and trying to regulate her breathing again, “Unfortunately.”  
  
  
“We’re torturing him making him wait to open his presents,” Tara commented, moving her hand down to Willow's shoulder and giving it an affectionate squeeze.  
  
  
“Torturing me not letting me kiss you,” Willow mumbled, pressing her lips firmly against her wife’s for several long moments before pulling away with an audible pop and calling out loudly, “Okay, Jake, we’re coming!”  
  
  
She then turned back to Tara and smiled down at her while reaching for her hand under the covers.  
  
  
“Come along, my beautiful wife. Our son is waiting.”  
  
  
She rolled out of the bed then, pulling Tara with her and the two walked downstairs and into the living room, where JJ was sitting between his presents, shaking one in his hand while he ran his hand over the paper of another. His head shot up at the two women when they entered the room and he grinned excitedly.  
  
  
“Look, look!”  
  
  
“Wow!” Willow replied with equal enthusiasm as she knelt down beside her son, “Look at all these presents!”  
  
  
JJ nodded and threw his arms over the present that was wrapped in paper decorated with pictures of Santa all over, to indicate that’s who it was from as oppose to the pile of snowflake-decorated presents that were from Willow and Tara.  
  
  
“Can I open, can I open?”  
  
  
“You sure can,” Tara responded, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside Willow and in front of JJ, “But c’mere and give us a hug first.”  
  
  
JJ released his hold on his gifts and bounced over to throw his arms over his mother’s necks.  
  
  
“Merry Christmas, JJ,” Willow said softly as she felt both her and her wife close their arms around him before Tara echoed her sentiment.  
  
  
“Merry Christmas, honey.”  
  
  
“Merry Christmas, Momma, Merry Christmas, Mommy.”  
  
  
JJ let himself be squeezed for a moment before pulling back and looking between the two women expectantly. Willow laughed and pointed at his gifts.  
  
  
“Open them!”  
  
  
JJ’s whole face lit up and he sank down onto his knees as he pulled his ‘Santa’ present towards him, wasting no time in ripping the paper away, his fingers shaking in anticipation. As the front of the laptop box came into view, he frowned slightly in confusion before spotting a figure in the corner and pointed at it.  
  
  
“Mickey Mouse!”  
  
  
Tara shuffled forwards slightly and took one of her son’s hands.  
  
  
“Do you know what it is, sweetie?  
  
  
JJ examined the front of the box for a few moments before understanding crossed his features and he smiled widely.  
  
  
“Like Momma works with!”  
  
  
“That’s right, baby boy,” Willow replied proudly, “It’s a computer. You can play games on it and it can help with your homework.”  
  
  
“Wow!” JJ responded in awe, “Santa’s so cool!”  
  
  
Willow and Tara shared pleased smiles that JJ liked his present as the boy turned to his redheaded mother.  
  
  
“Will you teach me?”  
  
  
“You bet I will,” Willow responded eagerly.  
  
  
JJ beamed and turned back to examine the box while Tara leant over to whisper in her wife’s ear with a grin.  
  
  
“Don’t you dare teach him to hack until he’s at least a teenager.”  
  
  
Willow blushed but as Tara pulled back, held a hand over her heart in promise and threw a wink in her direction while JJ looked torn between taking his new laptop from his box and opening the rest of his presents. Willow noticed his dilemma.   
  
  
“Why don’t you put your computer over here for a few minutes so it doesn’t get broken. You have to very careful with it.”  
  
  
JJ seemed pleased that a decision had been made for him and carefully pushed the laptop box behind him before turning towards the other pile of presents, his eyes shining with excitement.  
  
  
“These are from me and Momma,” Tara said as JJ decided which present to open first.  
  
  
His hands naturally went to the largest present and he ripped the paper off with the same eagerness that he had before. When the wrapping was off, he took in the large red box and recognised the ‘Lego’ logo before seeing the specific figures that were on the picture on front.  
  
  
“Firemen!” he claimed excitedly before looking up at his parents, “Thank you, thank you!”  
  
  
“You’re welcome,” Willow and Tara said at the same time.  
  
  
JJ shook his new Lego set excitedly for a moment before setting it down and moving onto his next gift. His Frisbee and yo-yo were received with great delight, though with warning that the Frisbee couldn’t be thrown inside the house, and JJ excitedly proclaimed that he couldn’t wait to play his Simpsons board game when Alex came over. His biggest excitement came when he unwrapped his next gift though, the electronic talking hamster plush toy.  
  
  
“Joey in school has this and it’s so cool and you can say something and it says it back in hamster and it’s so cool!” he gushed all in hurry as he ripped the hamster away from its packaging in exhilaration, “Look, look, look!”  
  
  
With the hamster toy successful rid of its packaging, which was thrown over JJ’s shoulder in hasty excitement, the boy pressed a button hidden inside the plush toy’s foot and said in a very clear voice, ‘hello, I’m a hamster’, giggling wildly when the toy repeated the phrase but in a distorted, squeaky voice.  
  
  
Willow was about to say to Tara that they’d regret giving him the particularly annoying toy, but took one look at the joy on her son’s face and quickly shut her mouth, instead just leaning over and placing a lingering kiss on her wife’s cheek to share in the delight and wonder their son was displaying.  
  
  
Tara smiled as she felt warm lips pressed against her cheek and scooted closer to the redhead, moving to sit behind her and wrapping her arms around her stomach. JJ continued to play with his plush toy, making it say whatever silly phrase popped into his mind until he realised he had a final present under the tree.  
  
  
He set the hamster down and picked the present up, holding it in confusion.  
  
  
“Is this for me?” he asked, unsure because of the different wrapping; Willow having gotten it giftwrapped in the store she bought it from.  
  
  
“That’s a special one from Momma,” Tara answered with a smile.  
  
  
JJ crawled over to his mothers and into Willow’s lap, Tara moving one hand away from the redhead's stomach to support his back.  
  
  
“It is?” JJ asked, looking up at Willow, wide-eyed.  
  
  
“Open it,” Willow encouraged gently in response.  
  
  
JJ turned the present in his hands curiously for a second before tearing the paper off, revealing the transparent box with a simple watch inside, black leather straps with a plain white face and big numbers to make it easier to read.  
  
  
“It’s a watch. You wear it on your wrist and it tells you what time it is. I was thinking me and you could learn how to tell time,” Willow said as she reached around her son to pop the lid off the box and take the watch out, placing it flat on her palm so JJ could see, “Would you like that?”  
  
  
“Yea,” JJ replied eagerly as he picked his new watch up from his mother’s hand, “Can I put it on?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow responded as she helped the boy wrap the watch around his wrist and secured the clasp, “Does that feel comfy?”  
  
  
JJ nodded before wrapping his arms around Willow’s neck.  
  
  
“Thank you, Momma.”  
  
  
Willow gave her son a one-armed hug and pressed her lips against the top of his head before pulling away and smiling at him and nodding over her shoulder.  
  
  
“Does Mommy get a hug too?”  
  
  
JJ giggled and climbed off of Willow's lap, wrapping his arms around Tara and copying his previous actions in a sweet hug before pulling back and jumping up on the balls of his feet.  
  
  
“Can I play with my compuher now?”  
  
  
“Compu _ter_ ,” Willow corrected softly and with a warm smile, “And yes, you can. Why don’t you go get it out of its box and I’ll help you learn how to play with it. Remember, you have to be very careful though.”  
  
  
“I will,” JJ promised solemnly before rushing back over to his laptop, ripping the tape around the opening and starting to open the box.  
  
  
Willow watched JJ to make sure he didn’t accidentally bang the laptop against the floor in his excitement to remove it from its box before she felt something being placed in her lap. She looked down to see a small, square box in glitter-embossed, red paper sitting there and spun her head around to meet Tara’s gaze with a smile.  
  
  
“Aww, baby, thank you,” she said excitedly before holding one finger up in a ‘one second’ motion and leaned over, retrieving the final gift from under the tree, a long, rectangular box, which she handed to her wife, “And for you.”  
  
  
Tara accepted the gift with a smile.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
“You’re welcome,” Willow replied before eagerness got the better of her and she tore the immaculate wrapping away from her present, then lifted the lid of the revealed box to see the red wallet Tara had bought her. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands, “Aww, Tara, I really needed a new one. This is gorgeous, thank you. Hey, look, it has a little ‘W’ on it and everything!”  
  
  
Willow toyed with charm on the zipper as Tara gave a soft smile.  
  
  
“I wish I could say I got it especially put on there, but it came like that.”  
  
  
“Yea but you found it,” Willow beamed as she pulled the zipped back and examined the depth of her new wallet, “It’s great.”  
  
  
Tara seemed pleased that Willow liked her present and started peeling back the wrapping on her own present, with a lot more care than the other two had. She neatly folded it beside her before taking in the contents of her gift and smiled wildly when she saw the box of her favourite perfume in her lap. She looked up at Willow.  
  
  
“Thank you, sweetheart.”  
  
  
“I know it’s small,” Willow replied with an apologetic smile, “But I got you something really cool for your birthday.”  
  
  
“I was running out anyway,” Tara answered as she reached across and took her wife’s hand, “Anything from you is perfect.”  
  
  
Willow blushed slightly and leaned over to capture the blonde’s lips. They moved lightly and lovingly against each other for several long moments before Tara pulled away and nuzzled their noses together.  
  
  
“Merry Christmas, Willow.”  
  
  
Willow placed another small kiss on her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“Merry Christmas, Tara.”  
  
  
They almost met for a third kiss but were interrupted as JJ called out.  
  
  
“Wow, it’s all shiny!”  
  
  
Willow blew a kiss into the air towards her wife instead before scooting over towards her son and helped him pop the lid on his laptop open.  
  
  
“Cool, huh?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” JJ nodded in wide-eyed wonder, squealing excitedly when Willow pressed the power button and it sprung to life.  
  
  
Tara set her new perfume off to the side and stood up, walking over to her wife and son and bending down, putting a hand on either of their shoulders.  
  
  
“How would you guys like some Christmas pancakes?”  
  
  
“Yummy,” Willow replied with a glance and smile at her wife while JJ remained transfixed on the screen, but mumbled something resembling ‘yes’.  
  
  
Tara dropped a kiss against the top of his head before straightening up and leaving the room. Willow guided JJ’s laptop through the set-up process, with the boy watching intently and asking what each step his mother was doing involved until the machine was ready to be used. Willow opened the folder of Disney games that came with the laptop and JJ almost burst with excitement when he saw a game about helping Winnie The Pooh find his pot of honey.  
  
  
He played that for a couple of minutes, laughing every time Eeyore came on screen to give him a ‘tip’ before Willow asked if she could play as well and they started a racing game based on the movie ‘Cars’, which JJ triumphantly won.  
  
  
Tara arrived in the room again not long after, carrying a single plate. Willow closed the laptop and pushed it off to the side to protect it from getting any errant pancake crumbs embedded in the keyboard as Tara sat down between them and grinned, picking up the top pancake in her hand, rolling it and taking a bite.  
  
  
“Who needs cutlery?” Willow asked with a laugh as she copied her wife’s actions.  
  
  
“We have hands!” JJ giggled as he picked up two pancakes at a time and shoved them into his mouth.  
  
  
“Chew carefully,” Tara advised as she swallowed her food and rubbed JJ’s back, “And we’re only eating with our hands because it’s Christmas.”  
  
  
JJ nodded his understanding that this wasn’t to become an everyday event and carefully chewed as instructed. When their pancakes were finished, Willow went upstairs for a shower while Tara played Lego with JJ until she heard the water being turned off upstairs again.  
  
  
“Will you be okay to play by yourself while I go and wash myself?” she asked JJ, who looked up and nodded with a smile as he pulled two red bricks apart, “Good boy.”  
  
  
She handed over the half-assembled firetruck she’d been making to let her son finish and stood up, leaving the room and going upstairs, turning straight into the bathroom and pulled her pyjamas from her body, stepping into the shower.  
  
  
She turned the water to a comfortable temperature and began to hum quietly as it fell down her back, leisurely washing her body and hair until she was clean and stepped from the shower, wrapping a towel around her body and walking into her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and smiled over at where Willow was standing in front of the full-length mirror, pulling at the top of her shirt  
  
  
“You look very pretty,” she said to her wife in her plain black pants and festive red sweater as she walked over to the closet to find some clothes for herself.  
  
  
Willow didn’t respond, instead just frowning at her reflection. She pulled at her shirt again, twisting the fabric around but the frown never left her face.  
  
  
“Tara?” she ventured after a moment, “Do I look fat?”  
  
  
Tara’s hand stilled from where she was taking a blouse from its hanger and looked over at the redhead, bewildered.  
  
  
“No, of course not.”  
  
  
Willow sighed and spun around to face her wife.  
  
  
“Could you look at me like a woman for a second and not my wife?”  
  
  
Tara placed the hanger in her hand over the circular knob on the closet and walked over to Willow, turning her so she could wrap her arms around her waist from behind and they were both looking at each other in the mirror.  
  
  
“I am a woman,” she said quietly, “And I’m your wife. And I’m telling you, you’re beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow looked completely unconvinced and Tara rubbed her hand over her wife’s stomach.  
  
  
“Willow, you’re not even showing.”  
  
  
“Yea, not my stomach,” Willow replied forlornly, “I wouldn’t mind then, at least people would know I was pregnant. Now I just look like I’ve eaten 5 boxes of doughnuts and it’s all gone to face.”  
  
  
Tara couldn’t help a small grin.  
  
  
“And your boobs.”  
  
  
Willow finally cracked a smile.  
  
  
“You really think I look pretty?”  
  
  
“The prettiest,” Tara confirmed with a soft kiss under the redhead’s ear, “You didn’t have any morning sickness today.”  
  
  
Willow groaned.  
  
  
“Don’t jinx it,” she said with a shake of her head, “And my stomach is probably waiting for normal wake-up time to let it hit. It’s nothing if not consistent.”  
  
  
Tara started to sway their bodies slightly.  
  
  
“Every single part of you operates on a strict schedule, doesn’t it?” she asked jokingly, “I have no doubt you’ll be one of those rare women who go into labour on your exact due date.”  
  
  
“We better keep August 3rd free then,” Willow replied with a soft smile.  
  
  
Tara stopped swaying and cast her wife a curious glance through the mirror.  
  
  
“Our first scan isn’t for another two weeks. We haven’t been given a due date yet.”  
  
  
“Well maybe not by the doctor,” Willow replied with a shrug, as she moved a hand to rest over Tara’s on her stomach, “But we have the benefit of knowing exactly when we conceived this little one. It’s not too hard to work out.”  
  
  
Tara mulled over this new information as s lazy smile spread on her face.  
  
  
“August 3rd?”  
  
  
Willow nodded with a grin.  
  
  
“August 3rd.”  
  
  
“A Leo,” Tara replied softly, her basic knowledge from her freshman astrology class coming back to her, “Honest. Passionate. Loyal. Definitely your baby.”  
  
  
“And yours,” Willow responded quietly, “You’re all those things, too.”  
  
  
Tara didn’t respond, instead just smiling wildly at her wife through the mirror before eventually taking her arms back.  
  
  
“You’re gorgeous,” she whispered before going to sit at the vanity table, deciding to choose clothes later.  
  
  
Willow stayed looking in the mirror, though her frown had been considerably turned upside down as she felt a lot more confident than she had before Tara had entered the room.  
  
  
“I’m gorgeous,” she repeated to convince herself with a definitive nod before she ran the brush through her hair, “Thank you.”  
  
  
“Thank _you_ ,” Tara replied as she picked up the blowdryer from where it was sitting along the floor and grinning over at her wife, “I get to look at you.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and smiled but stopped herself from responding when she saw Tara shake the blowdryer in frustration as she snapped the switch over and back repeatedly.  
  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
  
“It won’t turn on,” Tara replied, leaning over to plug it into the other socket but still getting no juice, “Did we blow a fuse?”  
  
  
She picked up the curling that sat on the table and pushed the button to turn it on, seeing the red light flash with power before turning it off and placing it back down with a sigh of confusion.  
  
  
“This works fine.”  
  
  
Willow inhaled deeply and got a guilty look on her face as she started to fidget with her hands.  
  
  
“I may have dropped it when I was trying to find my shoes while you were in the shower and then forgot to check it,” she rattled off in a quick breath.  
  
  
Tara turned her head to her wife and quirked an eyebrow before sighing and unplugging the obviously defunct-dryer, wrapping the cord around it and leaving it under the table.  
  
  
“Guess I’m towel drying today.”  
  
  
“Sorry,” Willow replied, moving a hand onto her wife’s shoulder, “I’ll replace it as soon as the stores open again. I’ll get us a really nice one. You know, I think we’ve had that one there our whole marriage.”  
  
  
“I think you’re right,” Tara responded with a small laugh as she stood and started to walk to the closet, “Nice to know we have more longevity than our electronics.”  
  
  
Willow gave a soft smile.  
  
  
“We have forever-evity.”  
  
  
Tara looked over her shoulder with an adoring look on her face.  
  
  
“I couldn’t love you more, you know that?”  
  
  
Willow blushed again and dropped her gaze momentarily before pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.  
  
  
“I’ll go start peeling the potatoes.”   
  
  
“I did them when I was waiting for the pancake batter to set,” Tara replied as she dragged hangers along the rail on the ceiling of their closet, “They’re in water, ready to go. So are the carrots. The peas and green beans just need to be taken out of the fridge when we’re ready to cook them.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Willow replied, some surprise in her tone before she walked over and fell onto the bed, lying back with her head propped against the headboard, “Well in that case I’m gonna watch you get changed.”  
  
  
Tara smirked to herself as she heard her wife’s words and reached to the front of her towel, pulling at the place where it was tucked in and letting it fall to the floor.  
  
  
“Whoops.”  
  
  
Willow openly leered the back of her wife’s nude form and pursed her lips in delight when Tara bent down to pick up the towel.  
  
  
“Merry Christmas to me.”  
  
  
She licked her lips as she watched Tara start to dry herself off, a lot more slowly than was necessary, and had to squeeze her legs together as a sudden rush of desire shot through her.  
  
  
“You really know how to tease a girl.”  
  
  
Tara grinned over her shoulder.  
  
  
“I’ve had years of practice.”  
  
  
Willow felt a fresh pool of desire settle in her core at the way Tara was looking at her and found herself speaking without even intending to.  
  
  
“Do we have time for a quickie?”  
  
  
Tara laughed and sauntered over to her wife, climbing on top of her, completely naked, which did nothing to curb Willow’s arousal, and placed a hand on either of her shoulders.  
  
  
“No,” she started regretfully, before smirking, “But we can have a very nice _long-ie_ later.”  
  
  
Willow couldn’t help running her hands down her wife’s naked back.  
  
  
“Maybe then you could, um...continue your little show?”  
  
  
Tara’s smirk widened.  
  
  
“Are you asking for a lapdance?”  
  
  
Willow looked at the blonde hopefully.  
  
  
“Are you offering?”  
  
  
Tara moved her face down so they were just inches apart.  
  
  
“That offer’s always open.”  
  
  
Willow’s hands flew to the back of the taller girl’s hair, pulling her down to close that last inch between them and kissing her fiercely for several moments before suddenly pulling away and slipping out from beneath her wife, her hand covering her eyes.  
  
  
“Sorry, but if I don’t stop looking and touching and...there’s no way I’ll survive the rest of the day. Not with these pumped-up baby hormones. I’ll go, um...baste the turkey.”  
  
  
Tara didn’t get a chance to say that the turkey wasn’t in the oven yet and therefore didn’t need to be basted as Willow rushed from the room, hitting against the closed door as she still had her hand over her eyes.   
  
  
She quickly dropped her hand and flew out the door, closing it again to give Tara the privacy to get dressed and rushed down the stairs, straight into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator, dropping her forehead against the door to cool down.   
  
  
She didn’t hear JJ walk in until he pulled at her pants.  
  
  
“What’s wrong, Momma?”  
  
  
“Your mother’s a vixen-y tease, that’s what wrong,” she mumbled to herself before realising who exactly she was talking to and jumped back in surprise, “Uh...uh...nothing’s wrong, little man. Nothing at all. It’s Christmas!”  
  
  
JJ luckily hadn’t caught Willow’s first words and just shrugged the exchange off, again pulling at the end of her pants.  
  
  
“Wanna play Lego with me?”  
  
  
Willow cleared her throat momentarily and nodded.  
  
  
“You bet, Jake. Can I build the firetruck?”  
  
  
“Yea!” JJ agreed eagerly, as he grabbed Willow’s hand and pulled her towards the living room, “Mommy started it and you can finish!”  
  
  
Willow exhaled slowly as she was dragged into the living room and knelt down beside the pile of Lego.  
  
  
“Mommy’s been starting things she can’t finish a lot today.”  
  
  
“Mommy heard that,” Tara’s voice came from the doorway almost immediately and Willow shot her head around, wide-eyed, but the now fully-dressed blonde was just giving her a quirky half-smile, “And she has every intention of finishing. _Later._ ”  
  
  
JJ remained oblivious to the double meaning of the conversation happening around him as he diligently built his Lego while Willow blushed and averted her gaze, willing a change in subject.  
  
  
“I, I didn’t baste the turkey.”  
  
  
“I’m not surprised,” Tara replied, clearly amused, “It’s not in the oven.”  
  
  
Willow felt the blush on her cheeks intensify but tried to control it as she turned her head towards her wife, attempting to appear nonchalant.   
  
  
“Do you want me to help?”  
  
  
Tara kept smiling and shook her head softly.  
  
  
“I’ll take care of the food. If you and JJ could set the table before everyone arrives, that’d be great,” she answered before nodding towards her son, “And um, get him dressed?”  
  
  
Willow nodded and managed a smile.  
  
  
“No problem.”  
  
  
Tara threw a wink in her wife’s direction before pushing herself off the doorframe and disappearing into the kitchen. Willow could hear the rustling of pots and pans as Tara went about the other preparations before turning back and picking up the firetruck her wife had started, taking peeks at the pictures on the Lego box to finish it in the style it was supposed to be.  
  
  
She and JJ quietly built their miniature city with its full firefighting team over the next little while, and acted out a rescue mission in all its glory when they finished. They played with their constructions, both enjoying it as much as the other, until Willow gave a quick glance at her watch and deemed it was about time to get her son dressed.  
  
  
“Come on, little man; let's get you ready for the rest of Christmas.”


	22. Chapter 22

  
  
JJ acquiesced without any argument and they both went upstairs and into his room.   
  
  
“Mommy got you a new Christmas outfit...” Willow said as she walked over to her son’s dresser and started rooting through it, “But I have no idea where she...aha!”  
  
  
She spotted the red sweater that had a reindeer design over much of the front. She grabbed a pair of the boy’s plain black pants and a white shirt as well as new underwear and socks. She brought the pile of clothes over to where JJ was sitting on the bed and sat next to him. JJ pointed at the sweater.  
  
  
“Like my jammies.”  
  
  
“I guess they are,” Willow replied with a chuckle as she held the sweater up and examined it, before grinning at her son, “Mommy likes reindeer.”  
  
  
JJ gave a giggle and a smile as well.  
  
  
“Me too. ‘Specially Rudolph.”   
  
  
“Well, look at this big, red nose,” Willow replied, pointing at the reindeer on the sweater, “I’m pretty sure this is Rudolph.”  
  
  
JJ’s face lit up at that and he eagerly held his arms above his head, ready to don his favourite Christmas character. Willow laughed but moved her son’s hands down as she began to unbutton his pyjamas, slipping them over his shoulders and pulling his bottoms off, letting them all pile on the floor to collect later.  
  
  
“Here, you can put your undies on,” she said, handing him his new underpants, which JJ pulled up his legs.  
  
  
She then helped him into his shirt, sweater and buttoned his pants so they were secure. Just as she fixed his second sock around his foot, a sudden wave of nausea hit her from nowhere.  
  
  
“Oh god,” she said, covering her mouth with her hand and bolting from the room.  
  
  
JJ looked on in confusion as Willow ran from the room and waited for a moment before jumping from his bed and walking into the hallway. When he heard distinct reching and recognised the sounds of throwing up, he ran downstairs at full speed and threw himself around Tara’s leg, worry evident as he spoke.  
  
  
“Momma’s sick.”  
  
  
Tara looked at her watch and sighed as she saw it was what would normally be around the time Willow’s morning sickness kicked in and cursed herself for ‘jinxing’ it earlier.   
  
  
“Like clockwork,” she muttered to herself before bending down so she was eyelevel with her son. They’d been able to avoid him having any knowledge of Willow being sick by making sure Tara had him downstairs eating breakfast or watching TV when it hit, to specifically avoid worrying him, but Tara figured it must have come on too quickly for Willow to react, “Will you help me make her some tea to make her feel better?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and Tara lifted him onto the countertop while she flicked the switch on the electric kettle.  
  
  
“Don’t touch that, honey, it’s hot,” she said to her son as she retrieved a mug and a teabag.  
  
  
JJ’s features stayed creased in concern and he wringed his hands nervously before eventually piping up.  
  
  
“Is Momma gonna die?”  
  
  
“What?” Tara asked, her head snapping around to her son, “Sweetie, no. No, definitely not.”   
  
  
JJ’s bottom lip trembled slightly.  
  
  
“She’s been throwing up every day.”  
  
  
Tara frowned to herself. They obviously hadn’t been keeping him as guarded as they thought they were. She quickly changed her frown into a smile to stop the boy from worrying and ruffled his hair.  
  
  
“Momma’s just fine. Her tummy’s just a little sensitive at the moment.”  
  
  
JJ looked confused.  
  
  
“Why?”  
  
  
Tara took a deep exhalation. She knew she couldn’t tell JJ the truth, it would be difficult enough for him to comprehend when Willow was actually showing, and they couldn’t expect him to keep it a secret until they were ready to tell everyone else. She opted to take a light-hearted tone in an attempt to alleviate her son’s distress completely.  
  
  
“She’s been eating too many Oreos.”  
  
  
JJ gave a small giggle.  
  
  
“Really?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara replied with a suitable grin, “Silly Momma, huh?”  
  
  
JJ nodded with a matching grin just as the kettle boiled. Tara poured the water and encouraged JJ to dunk the teabag so he’d feel like he was helping until Willow appeared in the room, her features pale.  
  
  
“We made you tea, Momma!” JJ exclaimed, pointing at the mug.  
  
  
“Wow, thanks,” Willow replied, managing a smile as she sat onto a stool by the island.  
  
  
Tara lifted JJ down from the countertop and brought the tea over to her wife while the boy rushed over to his redheaded mother’s side and crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head at her.  
  
  
“You shouldn’t eat too many cookies,” he said in a tone that Tara would have almost said was mocking her before he turned on his heels and marched out of the room haughtily.  
  
  
Willow watched her son leave in bewilderment and heard the sound of the television being turned on before turning back to Tara, who was making her own cup of tea.  
  
  
“Is is just me or has he inherited my tendency to randomly jump topic?”  
  
  
Tara leant over the island as she held her mug between both hands, letting it warm her before sighing.  
  
  
“He’s noticed your morning sickness.”  
  
  
“Oh, well, yea, I did just run off and throw up,” Willow replied with regret before her eyes creased, “Wait...not...not before today too?”  
  
  
Tara just nodded quietly and Willow frowned.  
  
  
“And you told him it was because I ate too many cookies?”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow.  
  
  
“Well I thought it was better than ‘your mother’s harbouring your secret brother or sister inside her’.”  
  
  
Willow had to concede that point and picked up her mug.  
  
  
“Thanks for my tea.”  
  
  
“You’re very welcome,” Tara replied, reaching across the island and taking one of her wife’s hands, “Sorry I jinxed it.”  
  
  
“Nah, it woulda happened anyway,” Willow replied with a small smile, “It’s not like I’m not used to it. But I’ll be happy when the next two months are over. Bring on the second trimester.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and walked around the island, wrapping one arm around her seated wife’s midsection and resting her chin on the redhead’s shoulder.  
  
  
“I can’t wait. We can tell people,” she remarked wistfully before laying her hand against the smaller girl’s stomach and giving it a squeeze, “You’ll have a sexy baby bump.”  
  
  
Much to Tara’s surprise, Willow shot out of her seat and out of her arms at that, standing a foot away and holding a hand up in front of her.  
  
  
“Don’t you start again with the sexy!” she huffed, backing away, “I’m setting the table.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied softly, walking back towards the cooktop and sneaking a lingering kiss against Willow’s cheek on the way, “I love you.”  
  
  
“Yea, yea,” Willow replied, though with a blush and a smile that was refusing to hide as much as she tried to.  
  
  
She bumped her hip playfully against her wife’s as she gathered some plates and then transferred them into the dining room. She popped her head into the living room, intending to ask JJ to help her set the table, but when she saw him giddily playing with his hamster plush toy again and making it mimic the voice of the cartoon playing on the television, she let him be to enjoy his new presents and went about the task by herself.  
  
  
When she’d set the 12 adult places, all quite close together to accommodate the large volume of dishware, she moved onto the small plastic table they’d set up on the side, brought in from the yard, and set it with plastic dishes and cutlery for the two boys.  
  
  
As she placed the final glasses down and made sure each setting had a napkin beside it, JJ ran into the room excitedly.  
  
  
“Snoopy’s on!”  
  
  
“It is?” Willow asked with equal excitement, ready for their traditional annual-watching of [A Charlie Brown Christmas](http://www.megavideo.com/?v=EA0JAH31), “Well let’s go watch!”  
  
  
JJ bounced up and down as he grabbed Willow’s hand and rushed them both back into the living room and jumped onto the sofa. Willow sank into the seat beside him and pulled him to her to stop him from roughhousing.   
  
  
She wrapped her arm around him as he cuddled into her side and they settled comfortably together as Charlie Brown began to lament to Linus about his depression over the holiday season.  
  
  
Willow noted with an adoring smile at her son that JJ started sucking his thumb at the same time as Linus did on-screen.  
  
  
They watched contently as Charlie brooded his way through the Peanuts gang, interjecting the silence with soft giggles as the cartoon characters' strange movements and exaggerated actions caused endless amusement until Snoopy’s head suddenly popped up as Schroeder was playing piano with Lucy and JJ looked up at his mother with wide-eyed excitement.  
  
  
Willow got a playful glint in her eyes and jumped from the sofa, holding her hands out for JJ to take, who did and joined the redhead in standing.  
  
  
They tapped their feet along to the tune of the piano for a few moments as they watched the screen and then simultaneously began to flail their arms and legs around in sync with Snoopy, stamping their feet in perfect choreography of what was a well-rehearsed dance until the animated dog slumped off the screen, blushing and Willow dropped to her knees, scooping her flushed son into her arms and hugging him tightly.  
  
  
“I love you, Jakey.”  
  
  
“Love you, too, Momma,” JJ replied, quite happy to be squeezed but trying to keep his attention on screen, “We’re gonna miss them decorating the tree!”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow replied, standing again but keeping JJ in her arms as she went back to the sofa and sat down, the boy sitting in her lap, head cushioned against her chest.  
  
  
She rocked them side to side slightly as they watched the conclusion and both joyfully exclaimed ‘Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!’ along with the Peanuts. As they credits started to roll, Willow held up her hand for a high-five, which was readily given and dropped a kiss on top of her son’s head.  
  
  
“You’re the best Snoopy dancer in the world!”  
  
  
“Really?” JJ asked, looking embarrassed but smiling, “Sometimes I practice even when it’s not Christmas.”  
  
  
“Well, it shows,” Willow replied with suitable admiration, “You’re wonderful.”  
  
  
JJ dropped his gaze for a moment but it quickly shot back up when he noticed some familiar blue figures out of the corner of his eye on the television screen.  
  
  
“Smurfs!”  
  
  
“Smurfs!” Willow echoed with a grin as [‘The Smurfs Christmas Special’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcuSGtUN2uA) flashed across the screen.  
  
  
They lapsed into silence again as rapt attention was paid to the holiday-themed story of the classic cartoon; Willow holding JJ tightly in reassurance during the slightly darker parts of the episode and they swayed in spot as the smurfs sang the catchy ‘Goodness Makes The Badness Go Away’.  
  
  
When the credits started to roll, Willow turned JJ around so he was sitting sideways in her lap and smiled at him.  
  
  
“Who’s your favourite smurf?”  
  
  
JJ contemplated for a moment before giggling.  
  
  
“Jokey. He plays funny jokes.”  
  
  
“He does,” Willow laughed before raising an eyebrow at her son, “What about Smurfette?”  
  
  
JJ blushed and ducked his head and Willow started to lightly tickle his stomach through his sweater.  
  
  
“I think you like Smurfette.”  
  
  
“No,” JJ protested through laughter, “Girls are yucky!”  
  
  
“Oh really?” Willow asked, finally relenting in her actions, “Am I yucky?”  
  
  
JJ shot Willow a look as if she was crazy.  
  
  
“You’re not a girl,” he said, puzzlement on his face, “You’re...Momma.”  
  
  
“Oh I see,” Willow replied with more than a hint of amusement, “And Mommy?”  
  
  
“Is Mommy,” JJ responded, wondering how his mother didn’t get it, “You’re weird.”  
  
  
“Oh so first I’m not a girl and now I’m weird?” Willow questioned, holding back a grin, “You should be nice to me, you know, Santa’s already making the naughty list for next year.”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes widened and he clapped a hand over his mouth for a moment before dropping it with a repenting look on his face.  
  
  
“I’m a good boy.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly and moved a hand up to stroke some hair off his forehead.  
  
  
“You’re the best boy,” she answered before moving her hand down to tap her son’s new watch, “Would you like your first lesson on telling time?”  
  
  
“Yea!” JJ responded enthusiastically, holding his wrist up to his face and examining it, “Why does it count to 12?  
  
  
“Ah, well...” Willow started to reply in explanation, “That’s because every day has 2 sets of 12 hours. You see those other lines that are moving? They’re called hands.”  
  
  
JJ scrutinised his watch and tried to comprehend what his mother was saying, but it was just a little bit too complicated. Willow noticed and covered the watch with her hand so JJ looked up at her.  
  
  
“Do you know how many minutes are in an hour?”  
  
  
JJ nodded proudly.  
  
  
“60! We learned that in school!”  
  
  
“Exactly,” Willow smiled and uncovered the large watch-head again, “Okay, now this bit may seem tricky. Each number on your watch means 5 minutes.”  
  
  
JJ looked both bewildered and upset that he couldn’t understand at that, so Willow quickly took his hand and used his finger to point along the numbers.  
  
  
“See, 1 means 5 minutes. 2 means 10 minutes. 3 means 15 minutes. 4 means–”  
  
  
“20 minutes!” JJ interjected with glee.  
  
  
“Well done!” Willow proclaimed proudly, “Can you get the next one?”  
  
  
JJ stared at the number ‘5’ for a moment and tried to mentally count for a few moments before offering a tentative answer.  
  
  
“25?”  
  
  
Willow beamed at her son.  
  
  
“You are so smart,” she said with a proud smile, and pointed at the watch again, “Let’s start from the beginning.”  
  
  
They moved though the numbers until they got to ‘12’ and JJ giddily pronounced it as ‘60’.  
  
  
“And when it’s 60, it’s a new hour,” Willow clarified, “Because then all 60 minutes in the hour are up.”  
  
  
JJ nodded along and Willow saw him whispering numbers under his breath. She waited until he seemed to be satisfied before continuing.  
  
  
“So you see how the two hands...remember that’s what we called them earlier? See how one is little and one is big?”  
  
  
JJ nodded again and Willow smiled at him.  
  
  
“Okay, the little one is for the hour and the big one is for the minutes. You can remember that because ‘hour’ is a little word and has the little hand and ‘minute’ is a big word and has the big hand.”   
  
  
“Big word, big hand,” JJ repeated, absorbed in staring at his watch, “So, the big hand is pointing at 3...so that means 15 minutes.”  
  
  
“Exactly!” Willow replied ecstatically, “And the hours are even easier, because wherever the little hand is pointing, that’s what hour it is.”  
  
  
JJ peered at the contraption on his wrist before nodding definitively.  
  
  
“11.15.”  
  
  
Willow squealed excitedly and planted a warm kiss on the boy’s forehead.  
  
  
“You are a genius, little man! You just told the time!”  
  
  
JJ flashed a toothy grin just as his other mother came to the door, looking concerned.  
  
  
“Why did I hear squealing?”  
  
  
Willow bounced JJ in her lap and turned her gaze to her wife.  
  
  
“He told the time!”   
  
  
Tara’s eyes widened and she all but ran over to them.  
  
  
“Already?!”  
  
  
“Are you surprised?” Willow asked, glowing with pride, “We’ve got a future MacArthur Genius Grant winner on our hands here.”  
  
  
JJ had no idea what his mothers were talking about but was happy to be caught up in the hysteria as Tara scooped him from Willow’s lap and spun him around the room.  
  
  
“You. Are. So. Smart,” Tara said, punctuating each word with a kiss to his face, “My baby boy.”  
  
  
“I’m not a baby,” JJ protested and Tara shook her head with a smile.  
  
  
“No, you’re not. But you’re still my little man. What time is it now?”  
  
  
JJ stared at his watch for a few moments before smiling at his blonde mother.  
  
  
“11.20,” he replied matter-of-fact.  
  
  
Tara smiled and looked at her son in wonder.  
  
  
“I’m so proud of you.”  
  
  
“So am I,” Willow’s voice piped up as she stood up and walked over to hug JJ from the other side.  
  
  
JJ let himself be squeezed for a minute or two before boredom got the better of him.  
  
  
“Can I play on my computer again?”  
  
  
“Of course you can,” Tara replied as both women kissed either of his cheeks and the blonde put him on the floor, “Have fun.”  
  
  
JJ skidded across the room on his knees to his computer and opened the lid again; resuming the game he’s stopped earlier. Tara moved her hand up to the redhead’s cheeks and kissed her, warmly and sweetly before pulling back with a smile.  
  
  
“He told the time.”  
  
  
“I know,” Willow replied softly, “That’s our boy.”  
  
  
The sound of a timer rang out from the kitchen then. Tara looked over her shoulder and placed another tender kiss on her wife’s lips before letting her hands fall, leaving the room again with a dropped kiss on top of JJ’s head.  
  
  
“You having fun, honey?” Willow asked across the room.  
  
  
“Uh huh,” JJ nodded, tearing his attention away for a moment to regard his mother, “Wanna play?”  
  
  
“You bet,” Willow responded before feeling a sudden throb in her bladder, “I’m just gonna go the bathroom and I’ll be back, okay?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and turned back to the game while Willow left the room and went up the stairs, relieving herself in the bathroom before starting back down. Just as she was halfway down the stairs, the shrill sound of the doorbell rang throughout the house. She continued to make her way towards the door and JJ skidded into the foyer at the same time, excited.  
  
  
“It’s Uncle Xander or Uncle Jesse! I saw the car!”  
  
  
“Well let’s see then,” Willow replied with a smile, knowing it would be one of her two colleagues if JJ saw the black SUV.  
  
  
She walked over to the door, with JJ at her heels, and swung it open to see a grinning Xander, a pleased-looking Anya and a very excited Alex, who had a very full backpack secured over his shoulders.  
  
  
“I brought my presents!” Alex exclaimed as soon as the door was open, directed at JJ, “Wanna see?”  
  
  
JJ nodded eagerly and the two boys rushed off into the living room to compare their newest acquisitions. Anya, apparently, had a similar idea as she thrust her arm in front of Willow’s face, dangling the shiny silver bracelet hanging from it.  
  
  
“Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”   
  
  
“Apart from my wife and child?” Willow asked, deadpan.  
  
  
Anya dropped her hand and narrowed her eyes.  
  
  
“Tara can appreciate fine jewellery,” she stated as she marched further into the house and towards the kitchen, disregarding the fact that Tara had of course already seen her new bracelet when they’d gone shopping.  
  
  
Xander stepped into the house as well and wrapped his arms around Willow in a warm hug.  
  
  
“Merry Christmas, Willster.”  
  
  
“And to you,” Willow replied affectionately before they separated and she closed the front door, “Alex liked his presents?”  
  
  
“Oh yea,” Xander replied, grinning, “I’ve been racing him in a Cars game all morning.”  
  
  
Willow laughed loudly.  
  
  
“So were me and Jake. Then we had a full-scale search and rescue Lego mission.”  
  
  
Xander nodded approvingly.  
  
  
“It’s great having kids, huh?”  
  
  
Willow’s hand instinctively went to her stomach, but she quickly dropped it so she wouldn’t arouse suspicion.  
  
  
“It sure is,” she answered before gesturing towards the living room, “Come, sit. Can I get you a drink?”  
  
  
“It’s a little early,” Xander replied jokingly, hitting Willow on the back lightly, “Nah, I’m gonna wait ‘til we’re eating.”  
  
  
Willow didn’t get a chance to respond since as soon as the two entered the living room, JJ was jumping up and down excitedly in front of them.  
  
  
“Santa got me and Alex the same thing!” he gushed, pointing between their two laptops, “He has the same games and everything!!”  
  
  
“That Santa’s got some smarts,” Xander commented, “He must’ve known you two were friends.”  
  
  
Alex and JJ stared wide-eyed at each other for a moment before both exclaimed ‘cool!’ loudly and got back to playing with their new toys while Xander and Willow sat on the sofa and began chatting.  
  
  
Anya and Tara appeared in the room just a few moments later, Anya talking animatedly and still pointing at her wrist and Tara was graciously offering her compliments.   
  
  
Buffy and Angel, Becky and Brian, Michelle and Ira and Jesse, Alice and Ella all arrived at various points throughout the next hour, and crowded into the living room, apart from Ella who zipped between the lower half of the house in her walker and the boys, who went into the backyard to play with the Frisbee.   
  
  
Everyone was conversing happily with each other as the food cooked in the kitchen until Anya moved off from her conversation with Tara and sat next to Willow on the sofa.  
  
  
“You should eat less salt,” she said in her standard, blunt tone.  
  
  
“Um, sorry?” Willow asked in confusion, smiling apologetically at her father, whom she’d been having a conversation with before Anya interrupted.  
  
  
“Less salt,” Anya repeated, gesturing at Willow, “You have your period, right?”  
  
  
Willow, along with the 5 men in the room, blushed bright red as Anya’s loud words rang throughout the room.  
  
  
“Um, no,” Willow replied quickly, before trying to turn back to Ira.  
  
  
Anya, however, didn’t let up and pulled Willow’s attention away again.  
  
  
“Oh, so you retain water before your period? You should still eat less salt. It’ll make you look less puffy.”  
  
  
The entire room became deathly silent and Willow’s entire face dropped as errant tears sprung to her eyes immediately. She jumped up from her seat and bolted from the room, the distinct sound of sobbing coming alongside the sound of her thundering footsteps on the stairs.  
  
  
“Jesus Christ, Anya,” Tara spat in a venomous tone that she rarely ever took, and never with her friends before running out of the room and following her wife upstairs.  
  
  
The rest of the room stayed in stunned silence for several moments before Jesse broke it.  
  
  
“Jeez, Anya, I’m a dude and even I know you don’t say something like that.”


	23. Chapter 23

  
  
Tara rushed over to the bedside when she saw Willow scrunched up in the foetal position on their bed, cradling a pillow to her front.  
  
  
“Sweetheart...”  
  
  
“I asked you, Tara,” Willow sobbed to herself, a combination of her earlier insecurities and the excess of hormones spiralling through her body, making her tears uncontrollable, “W-why d-did you lie to me?”  
  
  
“Willow, I didn’t,” Tara tried to soothe, reaching for her wife’s hand, who promptly snapped it back, “Hey. Don’t do that.”  
  
  
Willow just balled her hands into fists to prevent the blonde for reaching for them, making Tara sigh and move her hand up to stroke her wife’s hair instead.  
  
  
“Honey, it’s Anya. You know she just speaks without thinking sometimes.”  
  
  
Willow squeezed the pillow against her even more.  
  
  
“Exactly. S-she tells it like it is. And what _is_ , is that I’m _fat_!”  
  
  
“You’re not fat.”  
  
  
The words, surprising both Willow and Tara, came from the doorway and Tara snapped her head around to see Anya standing there. She cleared her throat to try and remain calm.  
  
  
“Anya, really not a good time...”  
  
  
“No, let her speak,” Willow spat out with a spiteful glare at Tara, “At least she tells me the truth.”  
  
  
Tara froze in shock for a moment at the harshness of Willow's tone. She blinked back the single tear she felt form in the corner in her eye and leaned forwards to place a chaste kiss against the redhead’s temple before speaking in a coarse whisper.  
  
  
“I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”  
  
  
Even in her overly-emotional state, Willow could hear the hurt in her wife’s voice and it snapped her out of her mild hysteria, but she didn’t get a chance to react as Tara straightened up and swiftly left the room, leaving her alone with Anya. Willow forced herself to sit up to retain some kind of dignity and returned the pillow to its place as she wiped away at her eyes.  
  
  
“You said I was puffy.”  
  
  
“Puffy isn’t fat. You’re not fat, just...fuller looking” Anya repeated after a moment of uncomfortable silence, “Water retention suits you. It’s doing wonders for your breasts. I never even knew you had any before.”  
  
  
Willow tried to take the compliment from Anya’s statement, but was struggling until the other woman actually gave her one.  
  
  
“I actually think you look very nice today,” Anya said, very matter-of-fact, “Tara must have given you a lot of orgasms this morning. You’ve got a nice post-coital glow.”  
  
  
Willow blushed bright red but didn’t say anything, not wanting to give away the real reason for her apparent glow.  
  
  
“I’m sorry I made you cry,” Anya continued, her tone becoming more uncomfortable as her voice quietened, “But it’s not my fault you PMS like a bitch.”  
  
  
Willow groaned internally and set her jaw for a moment to curb her irritation.  
  
  
“Why don’t we call it quits while we’re ahead?” she suggested, thinking it was best for both of them; Anya wouldn’t be uncomfortable and she knew the intuitive lawyer would start to piece two and two together soon if she didn’t veer them away, “We’re good, okay? I don’t want to ruin Christmas.”  
  
  
Anya shrugged to herself.  
  
  
“It wouldn’t be a family gathering if we didn’t have an argument,” she said, looking down slightly, “I’ve learned that’s pretty normal in families. Mine only sat at opposite ends of the table at holidays and didn’t say anything unless they were asking to pass the salt when I was a kid.”  
  
  
Willow looked sympathetic and nodded.  
  
  
“Mine too. I prefer shouting to silence.”  
  
  
They shared a look of understanding for a moment before Willow gestured towards the door.  
  
  
“I’ll be back down in a few minutes.”  
  
  
Anya acknowledged what Willow had said with a nod and turned on her heels, but looked back for a moment.  
  
  
“I really am sorry I hurt your feelings. Having a low-salt diet during that time of the month helps me. I was just trying to help. Would it have been better if I hadn't used the word 'puffy'?”  
  
  
Willow offered a small smile and gave an affirmative nod of her head.  
  
  
“Yes. The advice would have been better received.”  
  
  
Anya nodded to herself as she took the information in.  
  
  
“Okay. I'll remember that. Thank you, Willow.”  
  
  
Willow watched as Anya walked completely out of the room and heard footsteps on the stairs a moment later. She couldn't help but smile as she thought about the encounter; Anya was definitely the one member of their extended family that she didn't quite _get_ as much as the others, but she also felt every time they had a misunderstanding, which tended to be often, they took one step closer to figuring each other out. In an odd way, it sometimes made her feel like they had a deeper bond than with some of the others because they both inadvertently worked harder to get inside each other's minds.  
  
  
She blinked her eyes a few times and forced her psychological education and analysis to the back of her mind, deciding it definitely wasn't the time for her to sit and ponder the complexities of the different relationships in her life and stood up, making her way to the bathroom and splashing her face with some water before taking a look at her reflection.   
  
  
Tara’s hurt face instantly flashed through her mind.  
  
  
“God...” she groaned at how nasty she'd been, kicking the base of the sink, “Idiot, Willow.”  
  
  
She splashed her face again and wiped it against a towel before walking downstairs and into the doorway of the living room. Everyone stood around awkwardly but Willow just gave them a smile to let them know it was okay.  
  
  
“Apparently I PMS like a bitch,” she said in a light-hearted tone, “Sorry guys, just having one of those wacky days.”  
  
  
The women all nodded in understanding and the men shifted uncomfortably while Willow cleared her throat before speaking.  
  
  
“Um...Tara?”  
  
  
“Was she not upstairs with you?” Michelle asked, looking around the room as if she expected Tara to be hiding in a corner, “She hasn't come back in here.”  
  
  
Willow frowned in confusion before she heard a soft ‘in here’ float into her ears, deducing it came from the kitchen just a few feet away from where she was standing. She gave their guests another smile and left them back to their chatting, everyone's shoulders deflated in relief that the palpable tension was gone that the one inevitable fight had passed. She walked into the kitchen and saw Tara was standing with her back to her at the cooktop, idly mashing some potatoes.  
  
  
Willow walked over and stood by her side, reaching out for a moment before dropping her hand again, unsure what to do or say as Tara just continued mashing.  
  
  
“Hi,” she said and Willow saw her give a sad smile as she looked towards her, “Nice to see those beautiful eyes not crying.”  
  
  
“Tara...” Willow replied, reaching out again and letting her hand connect with her wife’s shoulder this time, “Baby, I’m so sorry.”  
  
  
“Ssshhh,” Tara replied gently, reaching one hand back and covering the redhead’s on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze, “It’s okay.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“No it’s not. No it’s not. I don’t get to be an ass just because I’m–” she quickly stopped speaking as Tara gave her a pointed look in case anyone overheard, “ _Because_. Come on, baby. You’ve never let me get away with any bullshit before, don’t start now.”  
  
  
“I promised I’d be there for the mood swings,” Tara replied, letting the masher lie against the side of the pot.  
  
  
Willow gave a small sigh.  
  
  
“We never covered becoming an irrational, possibly psychotic bitch.”  
  
  
Tara spun around to face the redhead fully, a stern look on her face.  
  
  
“Do _not_ talk about yourself like that.”  
  
  
“Don’t let me ever talk to you like I did before,” Willow countered, bringing her other hand up to rub the blonde’s arm, “I know it’s my own fault and I’m the one who needs to make sure I don’t, but as my wife you have full authority to kick me up the butt when I need it.”  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
“Really?”  
  
  
Willow’s lips quirked into a smile.  
  
  
“As long as you kiss it better,” she responded, before moving her hand up to cup her wife’s cheek, “You’re not anybody’s punching bag. And you don’t get to be mine just because I’m hormonal. I’m really, really sorry. I’ll never treat you like that again.”   
  
  
Tara sighed and leant into the redhead’s touch. She knew what being treated like a punching bag felt like. And she wasn't about to let Willow think that's what she'd done.  
  
  
“You didn’t treat me like a punching bag. It was a moment, Willow. Don’t beat yourself up over it,” she responded genuinely before taking her wife’s hand from her shoulder and entwining their fingers, “Just let me hold your hand next time.”  
  
  
Willow nodded as she moved to rest her head against the blonde’s chest.  
  
  
“Always.”  
  
  
Tara dropped a kiss on top of her wife’s head.  
  
  
“Did you sort things with Anya?”  
  
  
“Yea,” Willow replied softly before lifting her head to look at her wife shyly, “She said I was glowing. I mean, she thought it was from sex, but still, she said it.”  
  
  
“You are,” Tara responded with warm affection, “You’re so beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow felt a light flush rise on her cheeks but held her head high as she accepted the compliment.  
  
  
“Thank you.”   
  
  
“You’re welcome,” Tara responded before a thought crossed her mind, “You don’t think anyone suspects...?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“Nah. They just think it’s a different kind of hormonal. Don’t worry, our secret’s safe. No one will know until we’re ready for them to know.”  
  
  
Tara replied with her signature half-smile before gesturing at the various pots and pans beside them.   
  
  
“Dinner’s just about ready. Will you call the boys in from the yard?”  
  
  
Willow almost nodded but instead suppressed a grin and got a cheeky look of mock-defiance on her face.  
  
  
“What if I don’t want to?”  
  
  
Tara saw what her wife was doing crossed her arms over her chest as she adopted an almost authoritarian tone.  
  
  
“I’m asking you to do one thing for me, so please do it.”  
  
  
Willow let the grin spread across her face and threw her arms over the blonde’s neck, pressing their lips together momentarily.   
  
  
“Yes ma’am.”  
  
  
She popped another kiss on Tara’s lips, who grinned against her, before walking towards the sliding glass door that led to the backyard and walking through it to where the boys were playing.  
  
  
“Whoa, hold your fire!” she exclaimed loudly when the Frisbee went flying past her, only an inch away from her face.  
  
  
“Sorry, Momma,” JJ replied as he ran over and picked up the fallen piece of circular plastic, “Wanna play with us?”  
  
  
“I would,” Willow answered with smile, “But dinner’s ready!”  
  
  
Both boys’ faces lit up and they started running towards the door.  
  
  
“Yea! I want ‘tatoes!” Alex shouted through his grin.  
  
  
“I want turkey!” JJ countered as he ran through the door and into the kitchen, “And gravy!”  
  
  
“There’s lots of gravy, little man,” Tara spoke out, hearing the last of her son’s statement, “Will you tell everyone to go into the dining room?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and scurried off again, Alex following him as Willow arrived back in the room, sliding the door closed again and felt her mouth begin to salivate as she watched Tara remove the golden-brown turkey from the oven.  
  
  
“Mmhhh...” she moaned as she found herself walking towards her wife and the bird to inhale its aroma, “Hey, can we tell everyone else there was a problem with the oven and just keep this for ourselves?”  
  
  
Tara laughed quietly as she transferred the turkey from its roasting dish to a large, oval serving plate.  
  
  
“I don’t think we can consume an entire turkey between two of us.”  
  
  
“I dunno,” Willow murmured in response, “I’ve been able to pack away _a lot_ ever since LM came along. As Anya clearly noticed.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife a loving look and was about to say something when Willow held up her hands and smiled.  
  
  
“Not that it bothers me. I am a beautiful,” she paused and looked over her shoulder before lowering he voice to an almost inaudible whisper for the next word, “Pregnant woman. I am nourishing our child. And I am going to enjoy this wonderful dinner.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and started surrounding the turkey with the roast potatoes but suddenly remembered something Willow had said a moment before and quirked an eyebrow in confusion.  
  
  
“LM?”  
  
  
“Little Miracle,” Willow whispered with a smile, “We’ll need a code name when we’re around all the gang.”  
  
  
“Ah,” Tara replied in understanding, beaming from ear-to-ear, “Well, I’ll you what, I’ll carve the turkey and I’ll serve you and _LM_ first. And you can have as much as you want.”  
  
  
Willow gave a squeal of joy and crossed her hands on her stomach, dropping her head as if she was addressing her stomach.  
  
  
“I told ya Mommy wouldn’t hold out on us.”   
  
  
“Hey now,” Tara replied with mirth as she moved onto the gravy, “You’ve been having secret conversations?”  
  
  
Willow reached out to gather a droplet of gravy that was falling from the spout of the gravy boat.  
  
  
“Only to tell him or her how wonderful their Mommy is,” she replied before licking the gravy from her finger, “Mmhhh...and how amazing her gravy is.”  
  
  
Tara smiled to herself and shook her head fondly before handing Willow the bowl of mashed potatoes and one with mixed vegetables.  
  
  
“Go start to feed the hungry masses. I’ll be right in.”  
  
  
Willow complied and started walking from the kitchen into the living room, where everyone was already seated and chatting. Xander and Jesse senses both visibly perked up as Willow entered the room.  
  
  
“Food...” Xander said, almost drooling.  
  
  
Jesse, who was sitting between his partner and his wife, slapped Xander on the back in agreement.  
  
  
“Tara makes the best food...”  
  
  
“I would be offended...” Alice spoke up, giving a small shrug as Ella rested quietly on her knee, “But he’s right.”  
  
  
“My girl does make the good eats,” Willow agreed as she set down the dishes in her hand before taking one of the two free seats at the top of the table, right next to the children’s table as well.  
  
  
Tara appeared just a second later, carrying the large oval dish, and placed it on the middle of the table. Everyone commented on how good it looked as she started to carve it, sticking to her promise of serving Willow first and giving her a double portion before letting everyone else take whatever amount they wanted.  
  
  
She took Alex and JJ’s plate and filled them with potatoes, vegetables, turkey and gravy before sitting in the chair beside Willow and started to tuck into her own meal just as Ira started pouring wine in the glasses around him. Willow quickly covered her own to stop him.  
  
  
“Do you still have that infection?” Ira questioned, visibly concerned, referring to the cover story they were using as to why Willow wasn’t drinking.  
  
  
“It’s no biggie,” Willow replied with forced casualness, “The doctor says it’s just...”  
  
  
“Lingering,” Tara finished for her struggling wife, throwing a discreet wink in her direction, “But you feel fine, don’t you sweetheart?”  
  
  
Willow cast her wife a grateful smile and took her hand beneath the table.  
  
  
“I couldn’t feel better.”  
  
  
Ira seemed placated by that and moved on to pouring for the others around him. Various conversations were struck up throughout the meal, which thankfully went off without a hitch, apart from a brief and quickly-disbanded food fight between Alex and JJ, though not before Willow got a handful of mashed potato thrown at her hair.  
  
  
The redhead disappeared upstairs right after desert had been served to fix her food-embedded hair while Jesse, Xander and Angel took their traditional role of cleaning-up and the girls settled into the living room to talk while Ira went outside to supervise the two boys who wanted to play, but couldn’t be alone in the almost-dark sky.  
  
  
“Once again, the perfect Christmas dinner,” Buffy complimented as she collapsed into the sofa and held a hand over her stomach, “Can I hire you for year-round cooking, Tara?”  
  
  
“Can you match my salary?” Tara joked before noticing Alice was rooting through the diaper bag she’d brought with her before producing a jar of baby food, “Want me to feed her, Al?”  
  
  
“Sure,” Alice replied keenly, “I’m always happy to let someone else take the spit-up.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she lifted Ella into her arms and took the jar of pureed ‘mixed vegetables and turkey’ and the small plastic spoon from Alice’s hands before sitting in the armchair and resting the baby on her lap, bib already tied around her neck as she looked at the jar hungrily.  
  
  
“I think someone’s hungry,” Tara said as she wrapped one arm protectively around Ella and opened the jar with the other, spooning some into the baby’s mouth, “Here you go, little miss.”  
  
  
Ella gratefully smacked her lips over the spoon and slurped the food into her mouth. Tara continued to feed her, tuning out the conversation the other women has lapsed into as she watched the little girl’s soft movements until she felt someone sit on the arm of the chair she was sitting on and felt a kiss against her temple.  
  
  
“You look cute with a baby,” Willow said in a barely audibly whisper.  
  
  
“Really?” Tara murmured quietly, “Maybe we should do something about that.”   
  
  
Willow grinned but didn’t say anything else, aware of the other people in the room, and interjected herself into the casual conversation the others were having about a film they’d all seen recently.  
  
  
The men eventually rejoined them and Ira brought the kids inside when the temperature started to drop, playing JJ’s new Simpson’s board game with the two. Ella stayed in Tara’s arms, falling asleep a little while after she’d finished her food, and not stirring until Jesse took her as he and Alice prepared to leave, wanting to get the baby down for the night.  
  
  
Michelle and Ira departed not long after, reluctantly, as Ira had an unfortunate early work morning the next day with a Saudi Arabian client who wanted to video conference with all the major bosses of the company – and was apparently the kind of client you didn’t say no to and had no recognition of holidays if it interfered with his business plans.  
  
  
Xander and Anya were the next to leave when it was obvious that Alex was barely able to keep his eyes open, despite his (weak) protests. JJ helped him pack his backpack with his presents again and waved energetically as he left with his parents before running back into the living room and throwing himself onto the laps of the four adults sitting on the sofa; Buffy, Angel, Brian and Becky.  
  
  
“Ooof!” was the general consensus from all four, still full from their huge meal.  
  
  
“JJ, be careful,” Willow warned from where she’d shimmied herself onto Tara’s lap.  
  
  
JJ just climbed over to Brian’s lap and started bouncing up and down.  
  
  
“Can we play helicopter?”  
  
  
Brian chuckled and scooped JJ up under his arms, standing up and kicking Angel’s shin. Angel just stared at him in confusion and Brian sighed.  
  
  
“I’m food-heavy, man. I need a co-pilot.”  
  
  
“Please, Uncle Angel?” JJ added, protruding his bottom lip.  
  
  
Angel’s, whatever stoic, resolve cracked at that and he stood as well, cracking the barest hint of a smile. JJ squealed with excitement as Angel held him around the shoulders and Brian by his legs before they both started spinning him in circles, making his squeals louder.  
  
  
“If this ends in throw-up, you’re cleaning it up,” Tara remarked dryly from her seat.  
  
  
The escapade thankfully didn’t end in any kind of sickness, although after quite a few minutes, it did require the two men to sit down to try and make the room become still again. JJ just giggled to himself as he lay on the floor and felt his surroundings spin around him, eventually drifting off himself from the excitement of the day.  
  
  
Easy conversation flowed over the next while between the adults though Buffy noticed that at some stage Willow and Tara’s voices were distinctly absent from any discussion. She cast a quick glance over at them and rolled her eyes with a grin as she saw that they’d managed to get distracted by each other as they kissed softly in the armchair.  
  
  
She turned her head towards the other three on the sofa.  
  
  
“I think our hosts have moved onto private entertainment.”  
  
  
The others looked towards the two and Becky laughed quietly.  
  
  
“I think that’s our cue to leave,” she replied before standing up and raising the tone of her voice, “Lovebirds, we’re leaving!”  
  
  
Willow pulled away from Tara’s lips with a blush.  
  
  
“You guys don’t have to go,” she said with a genuine tone, though she didn’t seem too upset at the idea either.  
  
  
“Nah, we’re old now,” Buffy joked, “The body just can’t handle staying up until the wee hours.”  
  
  
The four made their way to the foyer to collect their jackets before piling into Becky and Brian’s car, as Brian had only had the one drink with dinner, which had completely left his system in the hours since and was sober enough to drive.  
  
  
Willow and Tara waved them off before Tara closed the front door and grinned at her wife, pulling her towards her by the waistband of her pants and crushing their lips together.  
  
  
“They only left ‘cause you couldn’t keep your lips off me,” Willow murmured between kisses.  
  
  
Tara nibbled lightly on Willow's bottom lip.  
  
  
“They’re used to it.”   
  
  
Willow giggled and continued to kiss her wife softly for a minute or two before Tara pulled away and looked towards the living room door.  
  
  
“We need to get our son to bed.”   
  
  
“Yes,” Willow agreed with a definitive nod of her head, “We need to get our son to bed.”  
  
  
Tara looked back at Willow and gave her a sultry half-smile.  
  
  
“And then...I need to get you into bed.”


	24. Chapter 24

  
Willow felt a shiver on anticipation go through her spine and started to push herself off of the blonde.  
  
  
“I’ll get him.”  
  
  
“Wait,” Tara replied, pulling her back, “No heavy lifting. There’s no point waking him. I’ll carry him upstairs.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow agreed with an eager nod.  
  
  
Tara was the one to push off this time as she walked into the living room and carefully gathered her sleeping son in her arms, bringing him out to the foyer. Willow clicked off the lights downstairs before following Tara up the stairs and into JJ’s room, pulling back the blankets for her to place him down on.  
  
  
“Jammies?” she whispered.  
  
  
“He’ll wake up,” Tara whispered back, “We’ll just take his pants off.”  
  
  
Tara went about doing just that and carefully rid him of his pants before covering him up with the blanket and leaning down to kiss his forehead. Willow copied the action and flicked on her son’s nightlight before taking Tara’s hand and leading her from the room; their lips crushing together with the magnetic attraction they had on each other by the time they were in hallway.  
  
  
They rounded into their bedroom and Tara closed the door behind them, but pulled away from the kiss when she felt Willow begin to pull at the end of her blouse, looking at her lasciviously.  
  
  
“You asked for something earlier...?”  
  
  
“I didn’t technically ask...” Willow replied and saw the blonde quirk an eyebrow so quickly added, “But I’m asking now. Can I have a lapdance? Please?”  
  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied as she licked her sumptuous lips and pushed Willow towards the bed, “Sit down.”  
  
  
Willow rushed over to the bed and perched on the end of it, placing her shaking-with-anticipation hands flat on her outer thighs to keep them steady and exhaled a shuddering breath as she watched her wife begin to sensually sway to the beat she was setting with her own hips.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes darted all over the blonde’s body; watching Tara’s shapely legs strain against the tight material of her pants and her generous cleavage popping out from the top of her blouse. He gaze was drawn to her lover’s thin, long fingers as they began to undo the buttons to reveal even more creamy-white cleavage and the smooth expanse of the taller girl’s stomach before the shirt was shrugged completely off.  
  
  
The redhead’s mind got lost in fantasy; imagining Tara’s fingers working the magic only they could inside her as she devoured the blonde’s full, luscious breasts. Her mouth hung open as erotic images danced around her brain until the sound of metal teeth sliding against metal teeth as Tara pulled the slider down on the zipper of her pants snapped her attention back to the show she was being given.  
  
  
She felt a steady stream of arousal begin to seep into her core as Tara pushed the sides of her black pants over her perfectly-rounded hips and down her legs, slowly revealing her toned thighs and curvaceous calves until the blonde was left in just a matching red and black, lace bra and panty set.  
  
  
“Mmhhh...” Willow moaned in response to the sight, bringing a hand between her legs and trying to get the seam of her pants to put some friction on her aching clit, “You’re so sexy...”  
  
  
Tara raised her eyebrows momentarily at her wife before striding over to bed, quickly but still with the sensual sway she’d started before. She climbed onto Willow’s lap, a knee either side of the redhead and lifted her hand away.  
  
  
“You know the rules.”  
  
  
Willow instantly felt the lack of even the small amount of contact on her throbbing nub and had to resist the urge to squeeze her legs together, knowing Tara would feel her do it. She brought her hands up to the blonde’s chest, stopping just short of them making contact with the round globes that seemed to be calling to her to be touched, and looked up at her wife.  
  
  
“Can I please touch you?”  
  
  
Tara just smirked and leant her head down so their lips were only a hairsbreadth apart but not quite touching.  
  
  
“You. Know. The. Rules.”  
  
  
Willow whimpered and dropped her hands to the mattress, knowing the rules all too well from the many dances she’d received over the years since that first pole dance on her 25th birthday. No touching herself or Tara until she was told she could. Tara, on the other hand, could touch all she wanted.  
  
  
She loved the rule, really; the build-up made the pay-off all the more delicious, but...  
  
  
 _God, it’s torture._  
  
  
“I can always stop...” Tara’s teasing tone came a moment later and Willow quickly shook her head frantically.  
  
  
“No, no, no. No. Don’t, please. I won’t touch. I won't.”  
  
  
Tara moved her hand to rest on her wife’s shoulders and ever-so-gently bucked her hips towards the redhead while thrusting her chest forwards at the same time.  
  
  
“Good girl.”  
  
  
Willow made sure her hands stayed by her sides but let her eyes devour the blonde’s heaving cleavage as Tara’s hips started circling towards her, making her whole body gyrate rhythmically.  
  
  
Tara pushed her breasts towards Willow’s lusty gaze and discreetly slipped one hand behind herself, snapping the worn hooks of her bra open and letting the material fall from her body, swatting it to the floor.  
  
  
Willow moaned as she watched her wife’s nipples begin to pucker just slightly and longed to wrap her lips around the tightening buds but kept strong as Tara’s gyrations made the her breasts sandwich Willow’s face in a brief but heavenly moment of contact.   
  
  
“Baby...” she breathed as her fingernails dug into the sheet beneath her.  
  
  
Tara could see Willow’s face turning a brighter shade of red with each passing second as she tried to contain the pulsing desire raging inside of her and after a few more moments of feather-light hand caresses against the smaller girl’s collarbone and arching her body so it made just the minimal, teasing contact, she finally reached forwards to tip the redhead’s decidedly-downward facing chin upwards and pressed their lips together.  
  
  
Willow jolted at the contact as a spark went through her body and mind. Kissing gave her the go-ahead. Kissing was her permission. Kissing meant she could touch.  
  
  
Her hands flew to cross around Tara’s back, pulling the blonde as close to her as possible as she flipped them so the taller girl was on her back and pushed her tongue forwards into a wanting mouth.  
  
  
Tara moaned loudly into the kiss and lifted her hips to assist the eager hands that were trying to rid her of her panties. She kicked them off completely when she felt them pushed down past her knees and reached down to the hem of the redhead’s shirt to begin to try and rectify the clothing imbalance happening at that moment.  
  
  
She didn’t get a chance to do her intended job of ripping the offending article from her wife’s body though as the smaller girl suddenly pulled away from the kiss, a mischievous glint in her eye.  
  
  
“Want one?”  
  
  
Tara, hazy from lust, interpreted the question along the same lines of the images flashing in her mind, the most predominant one being her wife’s skilled fingers. She puffed out a breath and spread her legs beneath the redhead provocatively with a smirk.  
  
  
“Use as many as you like.”  
  
  
“I’ll, uh, keep that in mind,” Willow replied, a huge grin spreading across her face, “But I was asking if you wanted a dance.”  
  
  
Tara blushed a scarlet red at her misunderstanding but found her mind wasn’t dwelling on her embarrassment but instead on the offer presented to you. She quirked a smile at the redhead.  
  
  
“Really?”  
  
  
“If you want,” Willow replied, somewhat shyly, “I mean, you’ve been giving me dances for 5 years and I’ve never returned the favour. I know I didn’t take any classes, but I think I’ve been on the receiving end enough to...try it out.”  
  
  
Tara bit the side of her lip as she contained a grin.  
  
  
“I’d like that.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her gaze to her wife’s lips and leant down to run her tongue along the plump, bottom protrusion before whispering into the blonde’s mouth.  
  
  
“Sit up.”  
  
  
She pushed herself off the bed and stood before her naked wife, watching as Tara savoured the contact by licking her own lip before finally focusing her senses and sitting up so she was in the same position that Willow had been in just a few minutes previous, though with far less clothing.  
  
  
Willow decided to rectify their disparity in attire as a starting point and brought her hands to the end of her shirt, before hesitating, suddenly nervous. Tara noticed straight away.  
  
  
“Sweetie, if you’re not comfortable...”  
  
  
“No, no. Not like it’s the first time I’ve stripped for ya,” Willow replied, grinning nervously, “I just, ah...have a very big act to follow.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small laugh.  
  
  
“Are you calling me fat?” she accused playfully before adopting a reassuring tone, “Willow, you could stand as still as a statue and I’d think it was the sexiest sight in the world. And the moves I use on you aren’t ones I learned in a class. I just listen to your body. And you’re an expert at listening to mine.”  
  
  
Willow gave a self-assured sway of her hips.  
  
  
“I’m like a Tara-whisperer.”  
  
  
Tara smiled widely.  
  
  
“Yes you are. The only one in the world.”  
  
  
Willow felt her confidence restored and shot a salacious grin in her wife’s direction before spinning around so her back was to the blonde as she brought her hand to the button on her pants, popping it open.  
  
  
She slowly shimmied out of the fabric, wiggling her ass for full effect and heard an appreciative moan for her efforts.   
  
  
“Shake your booty,” Tara encouraged in a teasing tone.  
  
  
Willow giggled and stepped out of her pants, ‘shaking her booty’, as instructed, with a hand on either hip to emphasis her movements. Once free of the fabric she reached behind herself and under her sweater, undoing the clasp of her bra before turning back around to face the blonde.  
  
  
She saw Tara looking at her curiously as she proceeded to shake her bra straps loose before pulling the garment down one sleeve and letting it drop to the floor. Tara raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
“Now that’s just not fair.”  
  
  
“Not fair, huh?” Willow asked with a devilish grin, toying with the end of her shirt, “Would you like me to take this off too?”  
  
  
Tara nodded coyly.  
  
  
Willow slowly lifted the sides of her sweater so her stomach came into view and watched as Tara’s eyes bore into her mid-section, her gaze following Willow’s hands as she little-by-little revealed more of her skin until finally her pert breasts bobbed as they were released from their last confinement and the redhead whipped her sweater over her head completely.  
  
  
Tara watched with increasing arousal as Willow snaked a hand down between her breasts and across her stomach before slipping into the front of her panties, her eyes widening when she saw the redhead start a hidden movement behind the fabric. She heard her wife give a throaty moan and felt her thighs instinctively clench together.  
  
  
“Willow...”  
  
  
Willow could hear the unadulterated lust in the blonde’s voice and grinned that she’d had the desired effect. She lifted her fingers from her panties and pushed the fabric down her legs, reaching down to step out of them and then tossing them over her shoulder before sauntering over to her wife and standing between her legs, pressing their chests together.  
  
  
Tara’s hands instantly reached behind her wife to cup her butt cheeks.  
  
  
“Hey, hey!” Willow said, picking Tara’s hands up and pushing them away before adopting a mocking tone of the one the blonde had used earlier, “You know the rules.”   
  
  
Tara all at once realised just how difficult the ‘rule’ was to follow as her body ached to touch and explore. She wondered how Willow had managed to obey so successfully over the numerous dances and decided to try and play her wife a little to get what she wanted.  
  
  
“Come on, Willow,” she replied in a low, sensuous tone, taking the redhead’s hand that had been in her panties and bringing it up to her mouth, running her tongue along the slightly-glistening fingers, “Let me touch you.”  
  
  
Willow moaned silently as she watched the blonde suck the arousal she’d coated her fingers with before from her digits.   
  
  
She almost gave in to her wife’s request but managed to regain enough composure and pulled her hand back, slapping it lightly against Tara’s thigh as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around her lover’s waist and leant her mouth down to the taller girl’s ear.  
  
  
“Don’t toy with me, Tara,” she whispered in an authoritative tone, “This is my show.”  
  
  
Tara felt a shiver go down her spine and revelled in how confident and assertive Willow was being, a far cry from the last time they’d been in the bedroom and the redhead had been bawling her eyes out thinking she didn’t look attractive.   
  
  
“Okay,” she whispered back, reigning in her own desires to let her wife take control, “I’m yours.”  
  
  
Willow felt Tara lean back slightly, her arms outstretched behind her and palms flat on the bed. She moved her hands to the blonde’s shoulders and ran them up and down her arms as she tried to get her body to start a rhythm.  
  
  
Her hips were the first to comply with her brain’s request as they circled themselves towards Tara’s stomach and she started to rub her ankles against the small of her wife’s back. She brought her hands back to Tara’s shoulders and squeezed tightly as she thrust her chest upwards, copying her lover’s actions from earlier.  
  
  
Tara decided she very much liked being on the receiving end of her wife’s gyrating body as her senses were overloaded with Willow, Willow and more Willow.   
  
  
She let herself be captivated by the sensual way the redhead’s body was moving; it may have been the first time Willow was explicitly giving her a lap dance but one of the many things she was an expert in was moving against Tara and it was definitely something she had never needed training in.  
  
  
“Do you want me?” Willow asked, teasing the blonde’s collarbone with her fingertips.  
  
  
Tara could only nod as her wife’s gyrations left a wet trail on her stomach but that wasn’t enough for Willow.  
  
  
“Say it.”  
  
  
Tara locked gazes with the redhead.  
  
  
“I want you,” she breathed.  
  
  
Willow stopped her movements and dropped her head so their faces were only millimetres apart, teasing Tara’s lips with her heavy breath for a few moments before pressing their lips together heatedly.  
  
  
She pushed the blonde back with her body so they fell onto the mattress together, locked at the mouth as one of Tara’s hands moved to entwine in her wife’s hair while the other roamed down the redhead’s back.  
  
  
After several hot ‘n’ heavy minutes of sensual kissing, Willow pulled away with a shy smile and placed a hand on her lover’s chest, between and just above her breasts.  
  
  
“Did I do good?”  
  
  
“You did amazing,” Tara replied as she felt her whole body humming with want, “If we’re ever short of cash again I know what you can do as a second job.”  
  
  
“Nuh uh,” Willow grinned, shaking her head and placing a sweet, gentle kiss on her wife’s lips, “Just for you.”  
  
  
“Just for me?” Tara asked with a matching grin and the smaller girl nodded.  
  
  
“Just for you,” Willow confirmed as she let out a soft giggle before waggling her eyebrows, “Want something else that’s just for you?”  
  
  
Tara reached down between their bodies.  
  
  
“I want...two things...” she said, letting two fingers glide into her wife’s wetness and along her lips, “That are just for me.”  
  
  
“Well I can guess one,” Willow replied with a moan as her lower half rocked against the sliding digits, “What’s the oth–”  
  
  
The redhead cut herself off as she realised the taller girl’s gaze was directed right at her mouth and realised what the blonde was asking for.  
  
  
“Ah. So...something...just for us?”  
  
  
Tara lifted her hand up to her mouth, tasting her wife again with a moan.  
  
  
“More, please.”  
  
  
Willow leant forwards and captured her lover’s lips passionately, greedily sucking on her bottom lip for quite a few long moments before pulling away for a quick breath.  
  
  
“Love you, love you, love you,” she said between short kisses.  
  
  
“I love you too,” Tara replied sweetly before smirking, “As much as I adore staring at your beautiful, beautiful face, I need another part of you up here right now.”  
  
  
Willow pressed their lips together for a final few seconds before sitting back on her heels and turning around. Tara bent her knees and spread her legs as they adjusted themselves into the familiar position and Willow let the blonde guide her hips to where they needed to be.  
  
  
When both women were comfortably presented with the other’s wet, pink flesh, their tongues began exploring the familiar landscape with reverberating moans and muffled gasps, seconds and minutes lost to feeling and sensation as heat built up in each of their bodies and start to spill out in shudders.  
  
  
Willow felt the waves inside her abdomen begin to ripple with more and more intensity until the feeling of her body and mind being lifted from within herself with overwhelming pleasure replacing all her senses made her throw her head back and cry out in a hushed tone.  
  
  
“Tara, yes!”  
  
  
She felt herself bucking into Tara’s face as she rode out her release, too consumed too notice her wife’s squirming hips. When the last aftershock ran through her, she took some slow, steady breaths and licked her lips, the fresh taste of the blonde’s arousal reminding her of the task still at hand.  
  
  
She lifted herself off of Tara, to much protest.  
  
  
“No, no, Willow, just a little longe–”  
  
  
“Don’t worry, baby, I got ya,” Willow cut her off with a grin as she moved to lie on her stomach between the taller girl’s legs, looking up to meet Tara's gaze and giving her a wink, “I am here to please."  
  
  
She let her tongue sink into the heated flesh again and watched as Tara's eyes rolled back into her head before head dropped back onto the pillow. Willow wasted no time in resuming the action she'd been doing before she'd changed position and wrapped her lips around her wife’s clit, sucking with gusto. She could hear the blonde’s now audible moaning float down to her ears and it didn't take long before a hand entwined in her hair, keeping her firmly in place.  
  
  
Tara threw one leg over the smaller girl’s shoulder in an attempt to pull her in as deeply as possibly, her heel gliding along the bumps of Willow's spine as her hips thrust themselves into Willow's mouth, taking every ounce of pleasure she was being offered until her back arched as a continuous jolt of ecstasy shot through her loins and around her body, making the swell of hot tension break inside her broke with a long shudder.  
  
  
“Ah...ah...ah! Yes!”  
  
  
Willow eagerly lapped at her wife’s overflow, sucking and licking every last drop that Tara produced until she was satisfied that she’d collected it all and languidly kissed her way up the blonde’s body.  
  
  
Tara fluttered her eyes open as she felt a nose nuzzling against her own and smiled dreamily upwards.  
  
  
“That was...”  
  
  
Willow moved a hand up to wipe some of the blonde’s sweaty hair from her brow before placing a soft kiss against her lips.  
  
  
“Another wonderful Christmas.”


	25. Chapter 25

  
“Hey, Willster.”  
  
  
Willow spun around in her desk chair at the sound of Xander’s voice and saw him leaning against the doorframe of her office.  
  
  
“Hey, Xand. I’m, uh, still gathering the info on the Gilbert case, just me give me another hour or tw–”  
  
  
“Take your time, Will, me and Jess don’t need those papers until tomorrow at the morning at the earliest anyway,” Xander cut the redhead off with an easy smile, “Anya just wanted me to remind you it’s Alex’s birthday on Saturday.”  
  
  
Willow gave a slight grin.  
  
  
“I know. It’s my wife’s birthday too, remember?”  
  
  
Xander nodded.  
  
  
“How could I forget? My wife in labour at your wife's birthday party. Certainly a memorable event,” he laughed as the memory of how his son came into the world was pushed to the forefront of his mind before the intense screaming and hand-crushing that followed in the hospital made him squirm and he shuddered, then focusing back on his reason for entering Willow's office in the first place, “Which is something else Anya wanted me to ask. She booked the babysitter for the kids and wanted to know what time your guys’ party started.”  
  
  
Since Alex had been born it had been a tradition that the day portion of January 1st was when Alex had whatever he was doing for his party, then JJ went to his house for a sleepover and the adults all celebrated Tara’s birthday in the night.  
  
  
Willow, however, had different plans that year, but hadn’t thought to inform anyone else yet.  
  
  
“Uh, sorry, Xand, we’re not doing a party this year. We’re doing something just the two of us.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Xander replied, his eyes drooping slightly, “No Rosenberg-Maclay drink-fest?”  
  
  
Willow laughed and shook her head.  
  
  
“Hey, you got a Rosenberg-Maclay Christmas.”  
  
  
“It was a rockin’ good Christmas,” Xander agreed before giving a sheepish smile, “Even if my wife did make you cry.”  
  
  
“Like Anya said,” Willow responded with a small grimace at her hormonal overreaction, “It wouldn’t be a family get-together if we didn’t have a fight.”  
  
  
Xander gave a small chuckle before clapping his hands together.  
  
  
“Okay, well then Saturday, we’re doing laser tag then pizza and cake back at our place. You know that amusement centre across from the mall? We’re starting there, 2pm.”  
  
  
“We’ll be there,” Willow smiled in response, “JJ’s very excited.”  
  
  
“So am I,” Xander admitted, making a gun out of his hands and pretending to shoot, “Academy training will finally come in useful. I think I’ve had to shoot my gun all of twice since coming on the job.”  
  
  
“White collar crime doesn’t call for much gunfire,” Willow agreed before sighing, “Something both myself and my wife are very grateful for.”  
  
  
Xander threw a wink in the redhead’s before turning on his heels and calling over his shoulder good-naturedly.  
  
  
“Alright, get back to work, Google!”  
  
  
Willow threw an empty bottle of water towards her colleague at the nickname but it just hit against the back of the door as the man closed it. She scowled for a moment before shaking her head and turning back towards her computer, muttering to herself.  
  
  
“Suppose it’s better than ‘Bing!’.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Twenty minutes later, Willow was back in full work and hacker mode, typing away as numerous files flew around her many screens when she suddenly felt a vibration from her pocket.  
  
  
She whipped her cell phone out with a smile, thinking it would be Tara texting on her lunch break since she couldn’t think of anyone else who would message her at that time and was therefore confused when she saw Xander’s name flashing across the screen along with the words 'new message'.  
  
  
He or Jesse normally told her if they were going out on a case so she’d be on call for whatever lawbreaker that was the felon-of-the-week but neither had been in her office since Xander was telling her about Alex's birthday arrangements.  
  
  
She opened the message and her confusion increased when it read just one word.  
  
  
Incoming!  
  
  
She didn’t have time to ponder as her phone started vibrating again, indicating a call was coming in, with the name ‘Anya’ blinking rapidly on screen. She pressed the accept button.   
  
  
“Hello?” she asked, almost timidly.  
  
  
“What the hell do you mean you’re not having a party?!”  
  
  
Willow sighed and slumped back against her desk chair, holding the phone away from her ear as Anya screamed down the line before trying to speak calmly.  
  
  
“I’m taking Tara out by myself, Anya. It’s not unheard of. Xander took you out for your birthday.”  
  
  
“Yes, and I received three very nice orgasms after,” Anya replied bluntly before her tone became loud again, “But you always have a party! Every year! It’s the only thing I have to look forward to when I have to deal with screaming children and, and the snot and their constant demand for cake!”  
  
  
“Tara and me will be there. We’ll take the brunt of the snot and whiny demands,” Willow tried to argue, before realising it was her wife’s birthday too, “ _I’ll_ take the brunt.”  
  
  
There was silence on the other end before Anya sniffed.  
  
  
“I’ve already booked the babysitter. For _your_ son, too. Do you know how hard it is to find a babysitter for New Year's Day?”  
  
  
“And we’re very grateful. JJ's very excited about the sleepover,” Willow replied in her best ‘reasonable’ tone, “You can still go out, Anya. Leave the kids with the babysitter. Paint the town red. Just not at our house.”  
  
  
Willow could hear Anya’s reluctance to accept this change in circumstance through the phone.  
  
  
“Is this a money thing? You should have plenty of money to afford a party after the sold investment advice I gave yo–”  
  
  
“It’s not a money thing, Ahn,” Willow cut the other woman off softly, “I just want to take my wife out on our own. And we’ll...we’ll have a party for our anniversary, okay?”  
  
  
Willow internally groaned for making the offer without discussing it with Tara first but she knew if she didn’t get Anya off her case, the woman’s next phone call would be to Tara and she didn’t want any part of her surprise ruined for her wife.  
  
  
She didn’t have time to over think the issue as she heard a mumbled ‘bet it’s a money thing’ before an exaggerated sigh.  
  
  
“Fine.”  
  
  
Willow adopted a pleading tone.  
  
  
“Anya – do _not_ tell Tara. Please.”  
  
  
“Now I’m keeping your secrets for you too? You’ve got some nerve, Willow Ros–”  
  
  
“Anya, please?” Willow shamelessly begged, “It’s a surprise for her birthday.”  
  
  
Another long sigh followed, as if this was the hardest request Anya had ever been asked.  
  
  
“Fine.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied in relief, before pretending she needed to rush, “Okay, um, big FBI issue, gotta go Ahn! Bye!”  
  
  
She ended the call and let out a low groan at the same time as she heard a light knock on her door. She turned towards it.  
  
  
“Uh, yea?” she called out before sitting up straight in her chair and trying to sound more professional, “I mean, come in.”  
  
  
Xander’s head popped through the door, his eyes wide with terror.  
  
  
“You faced the wrath of Anya?”  
  
  
Willow exhaled slowly and nodded.  
  
  
“Thanks for the warning.”  
  
  
Xander cleared his throat.  
  
  
“She didn’t make you cry again, she did?”  
  
  
Willow rolled her eyes playfully.  
  
  
“No, she didn’t make me cry. It’s all good. I’m sure she’ll fill you in on whatever replacement plans she makes for the night later.”  
  
  
Xander nodded in understanding before looking at the redhead curiously.  
  
  
“Where are ya taking the missus?”  
  
  
Willow just grinned to herself.  
  
  
“On a trip down memory lane.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“I knew he’d conk out.”  
  
  
Tara tore her attention away from the television at her wife’s words and looked over to where their son was quietly snoring, curled up on the armchair. He’d been allowed to stay up late to ring in the New Year but had succumbed to sleep quite a while beforehand.  
  
  
“I’m kinda surprised actually,” Tara mused as she ran stroked her wife’s hair softly from where the redhead was lying on her lap and across the sofa, “He’s very excited about laser tag tomorrow.”  
  
  
Willow absent-mindedly watched as the countdown clock and live-from-Times-Square telecast played out on the television screen before letting out a contented sigh.  
  
  
“I really like this, you know. Having New Years with just us.”  
  
  
Tara smiled to herself; she liked it too. Before the children had come along, the only New Years they’d spent alone together was their very first one; the rest having been spent with whichever friends were around to celebrate the New Year and Tara’s birthday in party form as it struck midnight.   
  
  
But the party when Anya’s water had broken had marked the last ‘New Year’s Eve’ party at the Rosenberg-Maclays in place of the parties on the actual day of Tara’s and Alex’s birthday.  
  
  
“I like anything with just us,” Tara answered eventually as Willow began to idly play with her fingers, “Especially cuddling.”  
  
  
Willow stroked the blonde’s fingers before entwining them with her own.  
  
  
“And holding hands,” she replied before noticing the clock in the corner of the television screen started flashing red, “One minute left. We don’t have drinks to toast.”  
  
  
Tara smiled down at her wife.  
  
  
“We’ll do it without them.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and pushed herself up into a sitting position.  
  
  
“That sounds like I’m getting a kiss.”  
  
  
Tara’s smile got wider and she started to lean forwards but was stopped as Willow fingers pressed against her lips.  
  
  
“We’ll miss the countdown.”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow momentarily.  
  
  
“Or we’ll start the year as we mean to go on.”  
  
  
Willow’s face brightened and she lowered her fingers.  
  
  
“I like that logic.”  
  
  
“I thought you would,” Tara murmured before closing the gap between them.  
  
  
Willow reached up to cup her wife’s cheek as their lips moved against each other, lights and fireworks flying in front of her closed eyes, mimicking the ones on-screen as Times Square and the East Coast rang in the New Year.  
  
  
The women kissed gently, Willow’s hand caressing the blonde’s cheek until Tara pulled away just an inch and nuzzled their noses together.  
  
  
“Happy New Year.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly at Tara’s words; the blonde was always the first to say the sentiment and the redhead always followed the same way.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday.”  
  
  
Tara placed another soft kiss on the redhead’s lips.  
  
  
“Thank you, sweetness.”  
  
  
Willow’s smiling eyes bore into her wife’s answering blue depths for a few long moments before she dropped her hand and started to lean over towards the coffee table, pulling the drawer open.  
  
  
Tara frowned at the smaller girl’s bent-over back.  
  
  
“I thought we were kissing.”  
  
  
“Smoochies galore are a-comin’,” Willow responded with a grin as she riffled through the drawer, “But first...your present!”  
  
  
She turned back with an envelope in her hand and held it out to her wife. Tara looked at it curiously.  
  
  
“You normally give me my present over dinner. Before the party.”  
  
  
“Well I’m mixing it up this year,” Willow answered, poking her tongue out between her teeth, “‘Cause we’re not having a party.”  
  
  
Both of Tara’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Her birthday party was, and always had been, something Willow insisted she plan, so the fact that she hadn’t heard anything about organising it hadn’t been strange.  
  
  
“We’re not?” she asked inquisitively.  
  
  
“Nope,” Willow replied excitedly, “Open the card and you’ll see why.”  
  
  
Tara took the light pink envelope from her wife’s hands and turned it over to open it, pulling out a card with a floral border design and a flourished writing style.  
  
  
“To my beautiful wife on her birthday,” she read aloud from the header across the top with a blush and wide smile before seeing two lines had been added with a pen on the white patch underneath.  
  
  
She recognised Willow's printed handwriting straight away and read them to herself.  
  
  


_Thank you for the way that you make me smile  
Thank you for making my life worthwhile_

  
  
  
“I couldn’t think of what to write when I was ,” Willow said with a blush as she saw Tara reading, “Sorry it's...stupid.”   
  
  
“It's not stupid, it’s so very sweet,” Tara replied, smiling from ear-to-ear as she looked up and met the redhead’s gaze momentarily, “And very you. Thank you.”  
  
  
Willow smiled back as Tara dropped her gaze to the card again, opening it. Two smaller pieces of card fell out and into the blonde’s lap.  
  
  
Tara reached down to pick them up, but not before seeing the short and sweet message scrawled across the inside of the otherwise blank card.  
  
  


_Love you always,  
  
x  
Willow_

  
  
  
She smiled as she felt a warmth fill her heart at the simple words before turning the fallen objects, which she now recognised as tickets, over in her palm and studying them.  
  
  
She first thing she noticed was that they were for the following evening, which explained why there wasn’t going to be a party that night. Further examination told her that the whatever event they were going to was happening at a small outdoor concert hall in the city and finally her eyes glossed over the main wording on the tickets, embossed and emboldened, indicating a name of a band, though no major one that Tara could place.  
  
  
“Why do I recognise that name?” she asked Willow as quiet bells of familiarity rang in her mind.  
  
  
Willow reached over to her wife’s lap and took the hand that wasn’t holding the tickets.  
  
  
“Do you remember one of our very first dates? One of the few times we went to a bar?”  
  
  
Tara gave a quiet laugh.  
  
  
“It’s been 11 years, I’m not sure I...” she trailed off as a sudden memory pushed into the forefront of her mind, “Cover band. We went to a Beatles cover band after you heard me singing in the shower.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and nodded towards the tickets.  
  
  
“We went to _that_ cover band.”  
  
  
“The exact same one?” Tara asked in disbelief, “1They're still playing? 11 years later, in a different part of the country? On my birthday?”  
  
  
“I thought it would just be a different band with the same name,” Willow responded quickly, “But I checked. I, uh, acquired, um, ‘Ringo’s’ cell number and called him and he said they played the Boston circuit way back when, I guess when we were in college, and now play all over the North East. So yea. The exact same one.”  
  
  
Tara’s face was a mixture of surprise and delight before she smirked at her wife.  
  
  
“Do I want to know how you ‘acquired’ this number?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head and adopted a mock-serious tone.  
  
  
“Very, _very_ secret FBI stuff. You don’t have the clearance for me to tell you.”  
  
  
The side of Tara’s lips quirked into a half smile.  
  
  
“Willow, this is amazing.”  
  
  
“Better than a party?” Willow asked hopefully.  
  
  
“So much better than a party,” Tara answered, bringing the redhead’s hand up to her mouth and kissing her knuckles, “It’s always so exhausting being at the kid’s party anyway. I can think of nothing better than just spending the evening with you. And some very good music if I remember correctly.”  
  
  
Willow got a pleased smile on her face, which only widened as she suddenly felt tight arms wrap around her in a hug.  
  
  
“I love you, Willow.”  
  
  
“I love you too, Tara,” Willow answered warmly, inhaling the scent from her wife’s hair before clearing her throat, “By the way, I promised Anya an anniversary part in lieu of a birthday one. She was kinda pissed her source of unwinding post-kiddies was taken away.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and tightened her hold.  
  
  
“We can manage that.”  
  
  
They stayed hugging for another few moments before pulling apart, smiling at each other until Willow picked up the remote and turned the television off before standing and walking towards the door. Tara looked after her, confused.  
  
  
“Where are you going?”  
  
  
“Upstairs,” Willow answered nonchalantly, “Can you get JJ to bed?”  
  
  
“Uh...” Tara started to answer, further confusion crossing her features, having expected at least a few minutes of a smooching session to follow, “Um, yea, sure. Of course.”  
  
  
Willow grinned as she started teasingly unbuttoning her shirt as she backed out of the room.  
  
  
“Good. Then I’ll be waiting to lavish some kisses on you.”


	26. Chapter 26

  
Tara could only feel lightness and warmth as waves of consciousness started to seep into her mind. Her brain instinctively fought against the deep slumber she’d been in but the increasing awareness of a familiar body on top of her and soft lips caressing her own made the lull of sleep begin to drift away.  
  
  
Her senses responded to that first; lips moving lightly against the ones peppering kisses against her before she managed to flutter her eyes open, seeing her wife’s emerald, glinting orbs already staring back at her.  
  
  
Willow pulled her lips back just an inch and Tara was about to voice the ‘good morning’ that was waiting to escape her mouth when she felt those same lips move down her throat and naked-from-the-night-before body with more than a little eagerness, arriving between her legs before the blonde had a chance to even register what was happening.  
  
  
“Oh my...” she gasped as Willow’s tongue slid between her other lips without any warning and instantly let her legs fall open to give the redhead all the access she wanted, “Oh Willow...”  
  
  
She struggled to contain a loud cry as her wife wasted no time in attaching her lips to her clit and could feel wetness slipping out of her like a faucet had been turned on inside her as her body acted on nothing but the primal need and desire coursing through her.  
  
  
A throaty moan vibrated over her lips as she felt her hips rising to meet every stroke of her lover’s tongue against her throbbing nub. She slid a hand down her stomach under the blanket and tugged at her wife’s hair momentarily, pushing the redhead as far into herself as possible before dragging her fingers back upwards along her skin and to her breast, pinching her taut nipple into a stiff peak and arching her back as an intense jolt shot from her abdomen and rushed through her body like an inferno of ecstasy.   
  
  
She felt another hand reach up her body and swat hers out of the way, letting it fall idly by her side as Willow took over the task of turning Tara’s body into a carnal mass of ricocheting pleasure.  
  
  
“Willow...” Tara moaned again, voicing the only coherent thought swimming though her mind, “Oh Willow...”  
  
  
Heat swelled inside her as the redhead’s mouth worked in sync with her fingers, sucking and pinching and squeezing and bathing her jumping nerve endings until she was screaming internally for her body to give her the release she was craving so badly.  
  
  
She brought her hands up to cover her face, letting them muffle the whimpers and groans that were escaping through her clenched teeth, her body’s writhing becoming desperately frenzied before she felt an unexpected fullness in the form of her wife’s long and loving fingers.  
  
  
“Oh! Will–”  
  
  
She cut herself off as her thighs squeezed around Willow’s ears and her neck strained back against the pillow, euphoric bliss and the deep satisfaction of broken tension crumbling through her.   
  
  
She was absently aware of soft licking gathering the juices from her expended flesh and her breast being lightly massaged while the redhead’s fingers stayed still inside her, prolonging her feeling of utter completion.   
  
  
As her body calmed from its post-orgasm rigidity to being relaxed entirely into the mattress, she felt Willow slowly extract her fingers and lift her head, seeing her wife pop out from under the blanket a few seconds later, sensuously sucking her fingers through a grin.  
  
  
Tara blushed as the redhead made a show of licking her glistening fingers clean.  
  
  
“I thought...I thought I already got my birthday snuggles.”  
  
  
Willow popped her fingers from her mouth and leant her head down so their faces were just an inch apart.  
  
  
“There are no limits when it comes to birthday snuggles,” she declared as she jutted her tongue out and darted it over the blonde’s top lip, “There are no limits to _any_ kind of snuggles.”  
  
  
She closed the gap between them then, pressing their lips together warmly before pulling back and nuzzling their noses together.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and languidly stretched her limbs out beneath her wife’s body.  
  
  
“Very happy birthday.”  
  
  
“Oh yea,” Willow replied through a giggle, “You’re gonna have a very, _very_ happy birthday.”  
  
  
Tara murmured a sound of approval and quickly pulled the redhead down to her lips again, kissing the redhead enthusiastically. She had just started to push her tongue forwards to deepen it when their bedroom door suddenly burst open.  
  
  
Willow quickly rolled off to Tara’s side and made sure the blanket was covering them both up to their chests, but JJ was too absorbed in his own actions as he bounded into the room to notice anything.  
  
  
“Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!” he yelled as he made a gun shape with his hand and pretended to shoot imaginary markers around the room, “Boom, boom, boom!”  
  
  
Willow ran the hand that wasn’t holding onto the blanket through her hair and cleared her throat.  
  
  
“JJ, you know you’re supposed to knock before coming in here.”  
  
  
JJ dropped his hand but his hand stayed lit up excitedly.  
  
  
“Laser tag today, laser tag! I’m gonna get everyone!”  
  
  
“I bet you will, honey,” Willow agreed, taking a quick glance at Tara, “Why don’t you go get ready for the party?”  
  
  
JJ started jumping up and down and began to run from the room.  
  
  
“Yea!!”  
  
  
“Hey, hey!” Willow called after him, “Don’t you have something to say to Mommy?”  
  
  
JJ spun around, his brow creased in confusion for a moment before realisation crossed his features and he shot a toothy grin in her direction.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday, Mommy!”   
  
  
“Thank you, sweetie,” Tara replied and breathed a sigh of relief when JJ just smiled at her for another moment before rushing from the room, pulling the door closed behind him.  
  
  
While she always welcomed a hug from her son, she was glad he hadn’t approached her in her very nude and still quite sweaty state at that moment.  
  
  
“He’s excited,” she commented with a fond smile towards the door, before it faltered, “I wish he wasn’t so enthusiastic over guns though.”  
  
  
“I thought the same thing,” Willow replied, taking the blonde’s hand under the covers, “I talked to him yesterday on our way home from school, though. He understood that real guns were not a good thing. He seemed more excited about the laser part than the gun part.”  
  
  
Tara nodded quietly and turned her head back towards her wife, reaching her spare hand out to the redhead’s chest and looking sadly at the just-barely-raised skin of the scar between and above Willow’s chest, circling it lightly.  
  
  
“Hey, no sadness. Very, very happy birthday, remember?” Willow said, bringing Tara’s hand from her chest and up to her mouth, kissing her open palm before leaning her cheek against it, “It was years ago. And I’m fine.”  
  
  
“You almost weren’t,” Tara replied, her voice unwittingly becoming choked with emotion, “You could’ve–”  
  
  
“But I didn’t,” Willow cut her wife off softly, “I fought. For you. For us. And you know, if we hadn’t experienced that, we might not have had the same view on life as we do now. We might not have kept JJ. We would've lost our son and not even known it. You've always told me everything happens for a reason.”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes as the took in what her wife was saying, something they had discussed on quite a few occassions before. She couldn't imagine life without their son in it, but she knew the grab-life-by-the-horns attitude they both had taken off after the last ill-fated meeting with her father definitely contributed to the whirlwind decision to keep the boy when he'd been thrust into their lives.  
  
  
She was still contemplating everything when she felt Willow reached down to her chin and raise it. She opened her eyes to Willow's smiling ones.  
  
  
“Do we not have an almost perfect life?”  
  
  
Tara finally smiled at that and acquiesced with a nod. Willow smiled back.  
  
  
“I wouldn’t change a thing about every moment of our life together.”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes momentarily, reopening them with none of the grief that had been there just moments before.  
  
  
“Okay. We can get back to the very, very happy now.”  
  
  
“That’s what I like to hear,” Willow grinned and moved so she was hovering over the blonde again, “I believe I was right about...here.”  
  
  
“That feels about right,” Tara ginned back, throwing a glance over at the alarm clock on her nightstand, “I think we have about 5 minutes before we get busted in on again.”  
  
  
Willow feigned shock.  
  
  
“And we’re wasting precious seconds with our lips apart?”  
  
  
“Not for long,” Tara responded, leaning up and capturing Willow’s lips.  
  
  
They spent the next four and a half minutes with their lips steadily locked and their tongues lightly brushing against each other until the sound of JJ bounding down the hallway made Willow pull away again, but he thankfully didn’t burst into their room again; the couple instead hearing the sound of the tap in the bathroom running, presuming the boy was brushing his teeth.  
  
  
“Party starts at 2,” Willow sighed before throwing a smile in her wife’s direction, “Take your time getting up. I’ll make you a birthday breakfast. What would you like? Don’t say pancakes ‘cause you know I have an inferiority complex about them compared to yours.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and shook her head to herself momentarily.  
  
  
“Eggs Benedict?” she asked after a moment of thought and Willow nodded assuredly.  
  
  
“You got it,” she replied before dropping a final, quick kiss against the blonde’s lips, “Love you, birthday girl.”  
  
  
Willow slipped from under the covers then and walked over to the door, picking the robe off from the back of it and pulling it across her body before leaving the room at the same time JJ skidded out from the bathroom, dressed in day clothes but his hair still messy.  
  
  
“Come on, kiddo, let’s get that hair brushed,” Willow said as she ruffled his hair before placing a hand on his back and pushing them towards the stairs, “And then you can help me make breakfast. I know you’re excited for the party but don’t forget it’s Mommy’s birthday too. I think she’d like a very big hug when she comes downstairs. And you can give her that special present you made her.”  
  
  
“It’s in my room!” JJ exclaimed, suddenly excited as he remembered the gift he’d made in school and that Willow had helped him customise at home.  
  
  
He went to scurry back up the stairs but Willow held his shoulders tight as she led him into the kitchen.  
  
  
“Whoa, whoa. One thing at a time. Hair first.”   
  
  
She looked around the room for a moment before spotting her purse on the island and went to it, retrieving a hairbrush from inside and bending down to run it lightly through the boy’s blonde locks.  
  
  
“You look so like your Mommy, sometimes,” she commented lovingly.  
  
  
“Mommy’s pretty,” JJ responded and Willow smiled widely in response.  
  
  
“The prettiest,” she answered as she pulled the hairbrush back, “And you’re the handsomest boy in the world.”  
  
  
JJ smiled and looked towards the door.  
  
  
“Will I get the present now?”  
  
  
Willow looked mock-offended.  
  
  
“And make me miss out on my co-chef? You can help me crack the eggs...”  
  
  
JJ nodded in enthusiastic agreement and Willow helped him climb up a stool and onto the island before going over to the refrigerator and taking out eggs and bacon as well as some frozen English Muffins from the freezer and a sachet of pre-packaged Hollandaise sauce; regretting she couldn’t make it from scratch, but sauces were one culinary speciality she had never been able to master.  
  
  
She put all the food on the island and gathered the pots and pans required and let them heat up on the cooktop.  
  
  
“Okay, first we need to start the crispy bacon,” she said and opened the packet, dropping some slices in a skillet as they began to sizzle, and put a saucepan with water on to heat, then turned back to JJ, “Let’s get crackin’!”  
  
  
JJ beamed and picked up one of the eggs. Willow held a mug underneath as JJ cracked it against the side and caught the egg as it fell out, putting it aside to fish out any errant shell pieces later. They repeated the process with another two eggs before Willow handed JJ the package of English Muffins, already semi-cut down the middle.  
  
  
“Will you pull three of those apart for me?” she asked JJ, “Then we can toast them.”  
  
  
JJ nodded and reached into the bag and stared to tear the bread into halves while Willow went back to the eggs and finished preparing them before starting the poaching process and turning the bacon.  
  
  
“Done,” JJ called as he tore the last muffin and wiped the crumbs from his hands.  
  
  
Willow turned back towards the island and gathered the torn muffins, putting them in the toaster two-halves-at-a-time and started to prepare the sauce.  
  
  
“Would you like to help me stir out the lumps?” she asked JJ as the sauce started to heat.  
  
  
JJ grinned and nodded and Willow brought a stool over from the island; JJ climbing to sit on it so he was high enough to reach the spoon in the saucepan while Willow stood behind him to keep him from falling backwards and took the eggs and bacon from the cooktop.  
  
  
She kept a hand protectively against her son’s back as he stirred the sauce and started to assemble all the cooked foods together.  
  
  
“I think all the lumps are gone,” JJ piped up after another minute.  
  
  
Willow peered over his shoulder and looked into the saucepan before ruffling JJ’s hair.  
  
  
“I think you just might be the best stirrer in all of Buffalo.”  
  
  
“Mmhh, I think you might be too, that looks yummy.”  
  
  
Both JJ and Willow’s heads turned as Tara appeared at the boy’s other side, dressed in black pants and a red button-down shirt with cut-off sleeves and her hair neatly tied up in a ponytail.  
  
  
“Mommy!” JJ squealed and jumped from the stool into Tara’s chest, wrapping his arms around her back, “Happy Birthday.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara replied as she held her son tight and placed a lingering kiss against the top of his head.  
  
  
JJ embraced his mother for another few moments before pulling away slightly and looking at the assembled food.  
  
  
“We made breakfast!”  
  
  
“I see that,” Tara responded with a fond smile, “Looks delicious!”  
  
  
Willow, who had been poured the sauce over the food during the exchange, gave her son a wink.  
  
  
“Why don’t you go upstairs and get that thing we talked about earlier?”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes widened in excitement and he nodded, then ran out of the kitchen as Tara helped him down from the stool. Willow placed the empty saucepan in the dishwasher before straightening up and smiling then leant over and placed a small kiss against the blonde’s lips. When she pulled back, she grinned cheekily and swatted her wife’s behind.  
  
  
“Go sit that mighty fine booty down.”  
  
  
Tara made her way over to the island and sat onto a stool as Willow took some plates down from the cabinet and transferred the food onto two of them, and on the third plate left the eggs, bacon and English muffin separate for JJ knowing he probably would stain his clothes if she didn’t.  
  
  
She brought the first plate over to Tara and set it in front of her.  
  
  
“Eggs Benedict for my birthday girl.”  
  
  
“Mmhh, thank you,” Tara replied as she was handed a knife and fork over the island.  
  
  
Willow smiled and brought the other two plates over to the island along with the third stool and had just sat down beside Tara when JJ skidded into the room, holding a rectangular-shaped, flat item, wrapped in paper that was screaming ‘Happy Birthday’ in shiny, neon colours.  
  
  
“What’s this?” Tara questioned as JJ ran over to her and thrust the gift upwards.  
  
  
“I made it,” JJ exclaimed with a mixture of excitement and pride as Tara lifted him to sit on the stool beside her.  
  
  
“You did?” Tara asked gleefully as she turned the present over in her hands and started to undo the wrapping, “All by yourself?”  
  
  
JJ blushed and gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“Momma helped.”  
  
  
“Only a tiny bit,” Willow spoke up, smiling between her wife and son, “Just with the glue.”  
  
  
Tara looked intrigued at the word ‘glue’ and pulled the last of the wrapping paper away, revealing a photograph that had been taken at JJ’s last birthday party; a close-up of the three of them with Willow and Tara kneeling either side of a standing JJ so they were all around the same height, wide grins plastered over all of their faces.  
  
  
The frame enclosing the photo was clearly the homemade portion of the gift; blue felt backed by cardboard surrounding it, glitter scattered over the felt and in small macaroni pieces the words ‘I Love You’ were spelled out across the top, with ‘Mommy’ underneath the picture.  
  
  
“Oh, honey,” Tara said, bringing one hand up to her heart, before smiling at JJ, “I love it. You did a great job.”  
  
  
JJ blushed again and swung his legs against the legs of the stool.  
  
  
“The macaroni was my idea.”  
  
  
Tara looked at her present for another moment before putting it down on the island, safely away from any food. She then bent down and kissed her son’s forehead before cupping his cheek.  
  
  
“You’re the sweetest little guy.”  
  
  
JJ seemed very pleased at before looking towards his plate.  
  
  
“Can I have my bacon now?”  
  
  
Tara laughed and nodded, sitting upright again.  
  
  
“Dig in.”  
  
  
JJ went about doing just that, the bacon crunching in his mouth. Tara picked up her cutlery and started to cut into the stacked muffin when she felt a hand reaching out to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear, followed by her wife’s soft voice.  
  
  
“I like your hair tied up.”  
  
  
“Well, we’re going to be spending the day with kids hyped up on sugar and excitement,” Tara replied with a small grin, as she popped a speared piece of egg and bacon into her mouth, “I figure I should limit the hair-pulling possibilities.”  
  
  
Willow nodded and smiled before leaning over and placing a lingering kiss against the blonde’s cheek.  
  
  
“The day might be for the kids, but the night, my love, will be all about you.”


	27. Chapter 27

  
“Are we there yet?”  
  
  
Willow gripped the steering wheel of the immobile car tightly as she groaned in frustration, the same question having been posed to her what felt like a thousand times in the thirty minutes they'd been driving, or sitting in traffic as the case was in that moment.  
  
  
“I will tell you when we get there, JJ, and if you ask one more time I’m turning the car around and there won’t be any party!”  
  
  
JJ scowled from his booster seat and crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. Willow saw from the rearview mirror before noticing Tara was casting her a sidelong glance and had a predominantly raised eyebrow.  
  
  
She sighed and closed her eyes momentarily before reopening them and mouthing the word ‘sorry’ towards her wife.  
  
  
“Traffic...” she offered as way of explanation for her crabbiness, the two-mile tailback they were apart of along with the almost constant stream of beeping horns lifting her frustration to a heightened level.  
  
  
“Would you like me to drive?” Tara asked kindly.  
  
  
“No,” Willow scoffed in dismissal, “It’s your birthday. You don’t have to do any of the crappy stuff on your birthday.”  
  
  
Tara sighed and brought a hand up to rub her temple slightly.  
  
  
“I’d prefer to have to drive on my birthday then have a car full of stress and my two favorite people all moody.”  
  
  
Willow took her hand from where it was resting on the gearstick and took Tara’s hand in her lap.  
  
  
“No stress, okay?” she said, visibly blowing a relaxing breath out in indication, “No stress.”  
  
  
She brought the blonde’s hand up to her mouth and kissed her knuckles, seeing her wife drop her gaze and quirk her lips in response before they locked grinning gazes again. After a moment, Willow looked guiltily towards the back seat but Tara just gave her a reassuring smile.  
  
  
“He’ll have forgotten as soon as we get there.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small smile but didn’t have a chance to respond as the car in front of her started to surge forwards and she noticed she could now take the turn they needed to take.  
  
  
“Oh! Oh! Exit!!” she said as she took the car out of ‘park’ and started to turn the wheel, bringing them onto a street with no congestion, “Finally. Man, why did Xander and Anya have to pick an amusement place outside the city?”   
  
  
She rolled her eyes and in the process saw Tara shooting her a pointed glance.  
  
  
“Not that I’m stressing,” she continued, lifting the tips of her fingers from the steering wheel in the best defensive pose she could muster without losing control of the car, “Simply a general wonderment...”  
  
  
Tara shook her head playfully before pointing at a signpost just ahead, indicating their destination was just ahead.  
  
  
“Well if you ‘generally wonder’ you way down the next left turn, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”  
  
  
Willow stuck her tongue out for a second, long enough for Tara to see and smile but not long enough for JJ to see and replicate, before turning down the indicated street, passing various establishments before they appeared to be outside the right building, flashing LED lights screaming 'amusements' at them.  
  
  
Willow pulled the car into an available parking space and turned off the engine before turning her head around to face JJ and adopting a soft tone.  
  
  
“We’re here, honey.”   
  
  
True to Tara’s supposition, JJ’s face broke out in joy and excitement as he lunged for the door, trying in vain to open it as the childlock kept it closed.  
  
  
“I’ll open it, I’ll open it,” Willow laughed at the eager boy as she exited the car and opened the backseat door.  
  
  
She grabbed JJ’s hand to stop him from running off too quickly and waited for Tara to appear on the sidewalk, her purse over one shoulder and JJ’s small backpack with his clothes for his sleepover with Alex ready for the night over the other, along with Alex’s birthday present, a large book about dinosaurs, wrapped in dark blue paper.   
  
  
Willow pressed the button on her keys to lock it and smiled as she saw Tara take JJ’s other hand before they all started walking into the building. Once inside, they were directed towards the party area off to the left by the bundles of balloons that had ‘Happy Birthday, Alex’ imprinted on them.  
  
  
The couple let JJ run off into the other mass of children – who were running around the enclosed space, jumping into the large ball pen that was set up and grabbing handfuls from the bowls of candy set up on a small table – as they entered the area and instantly spotted the adults all talking together off to the side and walked over.  
  
  
Before either had a chance to say hello, Anya instantly grabbed a hold of Willow’s arm.  
  
  
“Finally, you’re here. I’ve had to deal with the whiny children by myself. You promised you’d do it,” she complained irately before glancing at Tara and smiling just slightly, “Happy Birthday.”  
  
  
“Hello to you, too, Ahn,” Willow replied sarcastically, taking her arm back, “You don’t exactly look like they’re hanging off of you.”  
  
  
Anya shrugged nonchalantly.  
  
  
“The large pit of brightly coloured balls seems to be amusing them.”  
  
  
“Yea, I’ll bet,” Willow replied almost derisively before smiling around at the rest of the group which consisted of Xander and a few other women that Willow didn’t recognise, presumably the mothers of those of the children there from Alex’s school, “Hi. I’m Willow.”  
  
  
“And I’m Tara,” Tara added as she placed JJ’s backpack on the floor and Alex’s presents with the others before she straightened up with a wave.  
  
  
The other women greeted them politely but instantly went back to their own conversation. Xander walked over to Tara and kissed her on the cheek.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday, Tara.”  
  
  
“Thank you, Xander,” Tara replied warmly as she kissed his cheek back before Anya grabbed her attention.  
  
  
Willow saw her wife fall into conversation with Anya and shuffled in beside Xander.  
  
  
“Hey Xand. Only man amongst the women, huh?”  
  
  
“Well the only one over the age of 6,” Xander replied jovially, “As long as that doesn’t include mental ages.”  
  
  
Willow laughed at her friend.  
  
  
“Which are you more excited about; the ball pit or the laser tag later on?”  
  
  
A light flush rose on Xander’s cheeks.  
  
  
“I was already kicked out of the ball pit, so...” he replied in an embarrassed tone, “Having a kid is the best excuse for acting like one.”  
  
  
Willow laughed again and looked out at the playing children, spotting JJ who had met up with Alex and were throwing balls at each other in the pit.  
  
  
“Is Alex having a good birthday?”  
  
  
“Yea,” Xander replied, relaxing his back against the wall behind him, “You know how much Anya spoils him. Our whole kitchen table was filled with presents when he woke up.”  
  
  
“Like that bratty kid in Harry Potter? Willow asked, before quickly adding, “Not that Alex is a brat. He's a very sweet little boy.”  
  
  
“Nah, I know what you meant,” Xander smiled in response, “Pretty much exactly like that. Anya had them numbered and everything. So is Tara having a good day?”  
  
  
“She is,” Willow replied with a smile, “But we both kinda know the day is for the kids. I promised her the night is all hers though.”  
  
  
“Nice idea,” Xander replied with a nod before looking at the redhead curiously, “You looking forward to your evening?”  
  
  
Willow grinned as she thought of the evening planned.  
  
  
“Yea, I can’t wait. It’ll be really cool seeing the same band we saw on like, one of our first dates. We’ve just...come so far. I mean, we're married, we have a child, we have a-” Willow swallowed her words as she almost said 'baby on the way' and tried to quickly cover, “You know, a life together.”  
  
  
Xander nodded knowingly but didn’t get a chance to answer as Jesse and Alice appeared through the doors; Alice pushing a sleeping Ella in a stroller and Jesse holding a large gift-wrapped box, which he placed on the floor with the group of other presents before walking over to Willow and Xander, clapping his hands together loudly.  
  
  
“Man, that right there,” he said, pointing over his shoulder at the present he’d just put down, “Is the hottest Hot Wheels set I have ever seen in my life. The cars got steel rims and everything!”  
  
  
Xander grinned and grabbed Jesse’s hand, closing his own over it before pulling the man forward and patting him on the back in a classic ‘buddy’ hug.  
  
  
“Thanks, man.”  
  
  
“No problem,” Jesse replied as the two pulled apart, “I love my little girl but I gotta get my manly on with my two favourite nephews sometimes.”  
  
  
“Yea well, you just wait,” Xander responded, puffing his chest out, “‘Cause I’m gonna kick your ass at laser tag later.”  
  
  
“Oh please,” Jesse retorted, “When was the last time you even handled a weapon, Harris? Academy?”  
  
  
“You guys are worse than the 5 year olds,” Willow piped up with a playful role of her eyes, before tapping each man on the shoulder, “Enjoy your testosterone pissy match.”  
  
  
She left the two to their attempts at one-upmanship and went over to Alice, Tara and Anya.  
  
  
“Get sick of the boys?” Tara questioned with a wry grin.  
  
  
“Missed my wife,” Willow responded with a sweet smile as she moved to embrace her wife from behind, “What are we talking about here?”  
  
  
“The Stepford mothers over there,” Alice replied, gently rocking Ella’s stroller forwards in an attempt to keep her asleep despite the noise, “I said they seem very clique-ish.”  
  
  
“And I said we could be accused of the same,” Tara added, glancing over her shoulder to meet her wife’s gaze.  
  
  
“Sorry baby, I’m with Alice,” Willow responded, shrugging just slightly, “They barely even acknowledged our existence when we said hello.”  
  
  
“I said they could leave and collect their kids after the party,” Anya shrugged, “That’s what most of the parents did. But those three arrived together and insisted on staying. They seem oddly attached to each other.”  
  
  
“Like I said, Stepford mothers,” Alice shook her head, “They have no purpose outside their kids and husbands and wouldn’t know what to do if they weren’t around them.”  
  
  
Anya, Alice and Willow all gave small laughs but Tara just raised her eyebrow.  
  
  
“You don’t know anything about them.”  
  
  
“We’re only joking around,” Willow replied, squeezing her wife’s midsection, “But you’re right, we shouldn’t judge.”  
  
  
“I don’t see why not,” Anya replied casually, “After sex and spending money, it’s my favourite pastime.”  
  
  
Tara bit her lip to contain a smile at that while the other two just started laughing again.  
  
  
The last of Alex’s school friends showed up over the next twenty minutes, along with Becky, Brian, Buffy and Angel to complete the gathering.   
  
  
After a while, Xander started to rally everyone together to split them into teams for laser tag. Willow excused herself out of the teams, claiming a fake stomach-ache from a fake lingering hangover, not wanting to risk any possibility of falling or being run into by excitable kids or some of the even more excitable adults. When that caused an uneven number, Tara gladly sat out with Willow as well. Laser or not, she was happy to not to be involved with any kind of gun.  
  
  
They ended up with teams of adults vs. kids and Xander led them all upstairs in their teams to where the laser tag arena was. Willow and Tara stayed downstairs (along with the mothers of the school kids who had stayed, though they were still in their own circle) and sat in some chairs off to the side, relishing the brief moments of silence.  
  
  
“How’re you feeling?” Tara asked softly as she toyed with the ends of her wife’s hair.  
  
  
“Really good,” Willow replied with a smile, “And don’t even mention the M S words. I don’t want you jinxing it like last time.”  
  
  
“My lips are sealed,” Tara grinned, mimicking a locking motion against her lips, “Bet it was nice to have a morning without it though.”  
  
  
“Tara!” Willow replied, widening her eyes at the blonde, “That qualifies as jinxing!”  
  
  
Tara held up one hand in defence.  
  
  
“Sorry, sorry.”  
  
  
Willow just smiled and moved her head to rest on Tara’s shoulder.  
  
  
“I’m gonna disappear after we sing Alex happy birthday for a little bit and then come back and collect you, okay?”  
  
  
Tara felt Willow take her hand in her lap and smiled.  
  
  
“Should I even both questioning?”  
  
  
“You can,” Willow replied coyly, “But it would be futile.”  
  
  
Tara began playing with her wife’s fingers.  
  
  
“I already know what we’re doing...”  
  
  
Willow scoffed playfully, then laughed.  
  
  
“You know where we’re going. You don’t know what we’re doing. At least not all of it.”  
  
  
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Tara replied warmly, “You want to surprise me.”  
  
  
Willow shrugged and smiled shyly.  
  
  
“I just wanna make you happy.”  
  
  
“Well you don’t have to try to do that, silly,” Tara replied as she wrapped her arm around the redhead’s shoulder and pulled her head down to her shoulder, kissing the top of her wife’s hair, “You just do.”  
  
  
Willow sighed contentedly as she continued to play with the blonde’s fingers.  
  
  
“I’d like to kiss you senseless right now but a bunch of 5 year olds are about to run back in here.”  
  
  
As if on cue, the crowd of children ran back into the area, some play-fighting with guns made from their hands and others jumping straight back into the ball pen. JJ ran straight over to his parents, jumping up and down excitedly.  
  
  
“I got Uncle Jesse _and_ Uncle Xander!”  
  
  
“High five,” Willow exclaimed proudly, holding her hand up for JJ to hit his smaller one against.  
  
  
JJ ran off again just as Xander and Jesse walked past. Willow stopped them with a grin.  
  
  
“I hear my boy kicked your asses.”  
  
  
Xander looked like he was about to protest before sighing and speaking meekly.  
  
  
“Yes.”  
  
  
“Consider our asses considerably kicked,” Jesse piped up, “I didn’t even see him sneaking up behind me.”  
  
  
“And now to console ourselves with cake,” Xander added with a impish smile, clapping his hands together, and looking over towards the large table set out with foods, where Anya was standing and taking a cake out of a box and nodding at him to help her, “Which my lovely wife went to great efforts to...purchase.”  
  
  
“What Anya does best,” Willow quipped, making Xander shoot her a knowing grin.  
  
  
“I’m not complaining when she gets the best cake this side of...”  
  
  
“Canada?” Jesse offered before looking off in thought, “Do Canadians do good cake?”  
  
  
“If you count the Great Canadian Heinz Ketchup Cake,” Xander replied with a nod, to perplexed looks from the others, “It’s like red velvet. Had some in Toronto when we went up last ye–”  
  
  
“Xander!”  
  
  
Xander jumped in place at the sound of Anya’s shrill voice cut across the room. He looked over his shoulder momentarily.  
  
  
“I was summoned and did not leave. Bad Xander.”  
  
  
He scurried off as the others laughed quietly and helped Anya with the cake before gesturing at Jesse, who then went over to the lightswitch and flicked it off. There were a few shrieks from startled children not expecting the sudden darkness, but they soon turned to sounds of delight as Anya held the cake up, topped with lighting candles and started walking it towards Alex, who was standing at the end of the table, his smile visible from his flashing teeth in the dimness.  
  
  
The kids ran over to surround the cake like moths attracted to light and the adults followed as Anya started them off a loud chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’; Alex giddily swinging his legs back and forth as the flames from the candles danced before his eyes.  
  
  
When the song finished, Alex blew out the candles to a round of applause as Jesse switched the lights back on. Anya started cutting the cake and handing out slices on paper plates.  
  
  
Tara watched in amusement as Willow devoured her piece in mere seconds and offered the redhead her own slice.  
  
  
“LM likes?” she questioned in a joking whisper and saw Willow blush but nod and enjoy the second piece as well.  
  
Willow smiled over at her wife and looked on as she finished her cake, then walked over to Alex and gave him a warm hug, exchanging a few words with the birthday boy before she sauntered back over and placed a passing kiss against Tara’s cheek before whispering in her ear.  
  
  
“I’ll be back, my love.”


	28. Chapter 28

  
  
  
“I think your honey’s here,” Buffy said to Tara as she spotted Willow standing at the doors of the play area, looking around the room.  
  
  
Tara glanced over to the doors and smiled as she stood up.  
  
  
“I think that’s my cue to leave,” she said before looking back at Xander and Anya, who was sitting on his lap, “Is that okay?”  
  
  
Anya nodded.  
  
  
“Sure. We’ll take care of your son for no commercial or financial gain.”  
  
  
“Happily so,” Xander quickly added with a smile, “Have a good birthday, Tara.”  
  
  
“Have a wonderful evening! Make sure you don’t go home until the concert’s directed time says it’s over!” Anya said warmly, causing everyone else to shuffle uncomfortably.  
  
  
Tara didn’t notice and passed the remark off as just an odd Anya-ism.  
  
  
“Thank you, Ahn,” she replied to be courteous before waving to the group, “I’ll see you all soon.”  
  
  
There was a chorus of ‘byes’ and ‘happy birthdays’ as Tara started to walk towards the exit, locking eyes with Willow half-way there, who beamed at her. Tara held up one finger to indicate she’d just be a moment and detoured slightly to go over to where JJ was unsuccessfully trying to show Alex how to juggle with the plastic balls from the pit. She bent down and put her hand on the small of his back to get his attention.   
  
  
“Me and Momma are leaving now, okay honey? You’re going home with Alex for a sleepover. Be good for Aunty Anya and Uncle Xander.”  
  
  
“I will,” JJ answered, just barely taking his attention away from his task, “We’re gonna build a fort!”  
  
  
Alex nodded eagerly in confirmation and Tara smiled between the two boys before pulling Alex into a quick hug.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday, Alex.”  
  
  
“It’s Mommy’s birthday too,” JJ piped up as Tara released the boy and Alex’s eyes widened as he suddenly remembered that piece of information too.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday, Aunty Tara!”  
  
  
“Why thank you,” Tara replied with a grin, “Birthday buddy.”  
  
  
Alex grinned and nodded and Tara brought a hand up to each of the boy’s heads, ruffling their hair as she straightened up.  
  
  
“Okay, Momma’s waiting. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”  
  
  
The boys waved goodbye and Tara walked in a beeline towards Willow, noticing the redhead’s changed attire; a cap sleeve green blouse with a ruffled front and fitted black jacket hanging over her shoulders while a pair of dark denim jeans hugged her legs, the ends tucked into a pair of mid-calf length, strapped, black boots.  
  
  
“Hello sexy,” Tara said as approached her wife, “You look gorgeous.”  
  
  
“Why thank you,” Willow replied as she looped her arm in Tara’s and started walking them away from the noise and chaos, “Time for the Tara-portion of the evening.”  
  
  
“Well it’s been a fun day so far,” Tara responded warmly as she was led out of the building and towards the car, “It’s wonderful to see all the children so happy.”  
  
  
“It is,” Willow agreed as the opened the passenger-side door for her wife, “Your chariot awaits, my dear.”  
  
  
Willow held the blonde’s hand as she helped her sit into the car, letting go only to close the door and move around to get in the driver’s seat, where she re-entwined her fingers with Tara’s over the gearstick and smiled across the seats as she started the engine.  
  
  
“You know, the way the sun is setting right now, you look like you’ve got this whole heavenly glow about you. You look radiant.”  
  
  
“You’re the glow-y one,” Tara replied but with a warm smile, “I’ll look a lot better when I get changed.”  
  
  
Willow frowned as she pulled from the parking space and onto the road.  
  
  
“Baby, we don’t have time to go home. The concert starts in 20 minutes. That’s why I went back to organise everything before.”  
  
  
Tara shot her head around to her wife, an eyebrow raised sternly.  
  
  
“Willow, are you kidding me? We’re going out for the evening and you didn’t factor in time for me to get changed?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head in confusion.  
  
  
“But you don’t need to get changed.”  
  
  
Tara threw her hands in front of her in disbelief.  
  
  
“ _You_ got changed.”  
  
  
“To look nice for you,” Willow replied, her tone innocuous, “You already look amazing.”  
  
  
Tara’s mouth began to hang open.  
  
  
“Willow, I threw these on for a kids’ party.”  
  
  
Willow stopped the car at a red light and looked over at Tara, seeming almost bewildered that the blonde even needed to bring this up.  
  
  
“But you look beautiful.”  
  
  
Tara’s entire face softened as one side of her lips quirked just slightly upwards, seeing Willow obliviousness for what it was: nothing but adoration for her. She glanced down at her simple red blouse and plain black pants, deciding she at the very least looked presentable and lucked out in not having had anything spilled on her throughout the course of the day until she heard Willow speak again.  
  
  
“My red boots are in the trunk if you wanna wear those? I’m sorry, Tara.”  
  
  
Tara raised her head and shook it slightly.  
  
  
“It’s okay,” she replied, squeezing the redhead’s hand beneath hers, “I think you made me fall a little bit more in love with you.”  
  
  
The car pushed forwards as the light turned to amber and quickly to green and Willow’s eyebrows shot up.  
  
  
“I’m not gonna even question how I got you from pissed to that,” she said with a quick glance and an undeniably sparkling smile, “I love you.”  
  
  
“I know you do,” Tara replied and lifted her hand from the redhead’s to reach over and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, playing with the end of it idly and stroking the skin of her wife’s cheek with a feather-light touch.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes fluttered closed at the soft contact and she had to make a pointed effort to snap them open again to keep control of the car, though her head still moved into the touch as a low mutter left her lips.  
  
  
“That’s kinda distracting.”  
  
  
“Sorry,” Tara replied softly, though made no effort to stop.  
  
  
They cruised quietly along the streets as the sun went from dark orange to vibrant red to gone completely, replaced with a slowly rising half-moon, highlighted by the surrounding twinkling stars.  
  
  
They eventually pulled into a parking lot outside a large all-white, dome-shaped building that was roofless and already had music billowing out into the neighbouring area.  
  
  
Willow put the car in park and turned the engine off.  
  
  
“Stay there,” she said quickly as she unfastened her seatbelt, “I’ll open your door.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara agreed with a smile, “Can I get those boots?”  
  
  
“You bet,” Willow replied as she exited the car and went around to the trunk, taking one thing out and placing it on the ground by the wheel, before rooting around for the boots she knew she’d thrown in there when she’d decided she needed to permanently replace them with flats to accommodate the swelling she’d been experiencing in her feet.  
  
  
She eventually located them under an old rain jacket and tucked them under her arm as she closed the trunk and went to the passenger door, opening it and handing the boots to Tara as she swung her legs from the car, her hair having being released from its ponytail and bouncing around her shoulders.  
  
  
“Lucky you married a woman,” Willow commented as the blonde slipped her flats from her feet and replaced them with the red leather boots.  
  
  
“Lucky I married you,” Tara replied sweetly before throwing a sly wink in the redhead’s direction, “We’re the same shoe size.”  
  
  
Willow let out a small giggle as Tara pulled the zips on either boot up, happy her attired was smartened up a little for the evening before standing up from the seat completely and glancing down at the redhead’s own shoes, quite aware of her wife’s switch to less restricting footwear.  
  
  
“Those aren’t hurting you are you? I don’t want you in pain just to look nice for me. You’d look stunning even in flip flops. Or barefoot.”  
  
  
Willow gave a soft smile and shook her head.  
  
  
“They’ve always been a little big, so they’re comfy,” she reassured as she closed the passenger door and locked the car, before taking the handle of the other item she’d taken from the trunk, which Tara was surprised to see was a picnic basket.  
  
  
“What’s in there?”   
  
  
“Well you didn’t think I wouldn’t bring dinner, did you?” Willow asked as she used to other hand to entwine her fingers with her wife’s and started walking them towards the entrance to the arena, “I did eat your cake, after all.”  
  
  
“My pregnant wife is welcome to eat my cake whenever she likes,” Tara replied before frowning slightly, “I didn’t mean for that to come out so dirty.”  
  
  
“You sure?” Willow responded, waggling her eyebrows, “Maybe you could open an all-you-can-eat Tara-buffet?”  
  
  
Tara gave an easy smile and swung their hands between them as they walked across the grassy path.  
  
  
“My restaurant wouldn’t do so well if I only allowed one patron inside.”  
  
  
“Don’t worry, I’m sure that this patron is a great kisser,” Willow quipped, sticking her tongue out between her teeth just a little, “Whoops, I of course meant _tipper_.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied wryly, “Although it’s one and the same when payment is transferred through this certain customer’s lips.”  
  
  
Willow smiled to herself as they stopped at the turnstile into the arena where a security guard was standing.  
  
  
“Tickets?”  
  
  
“Back pocket,” Willow said over to Tara, who dropped the redhead’s hand momentarily to reach into her back pocket.  
  
  
Willow had to suppress a grin when she felt Tara’s hand give her buttock a cheeky squeeze as she took the two tickets and handed them to the guard, who scanned them with a handheld machine and handed them back before pressing a button to allow them though the turnstile.   
  
  
Another security guard on the other side took the picnic basket and gave the contents a quick glance through before letting them continue into the grounds; a large stage in the middle, providing a center to the sloped grass surrounding it, where others had set out blankets and deck chairs to sit on. There was music playing from the loud speakers either side of the stage; through a sound system as oppose to the live band that had yet to appear.  
  
  
The two found an area of grass not too far from the stage but not close enough that they’d be deafened by the sound system and Willow placed the basket down on the grass, opening it to retrieve a soft, red blanket which she spread out and knelt down, gesturing with her hands across the blanket as she smiled up at her wife.  
  
  
“Sit down, my sweet.”  
  
  
Tara sank down onto the blanket and sat cross-legged on the blanket, watching as Willow took a spherical glass with a flat base filled with wax to form a candle from the basket and placed it above the blanket, on the grass, lighting it just a moment later with a pocket lighter.  
  
  
“Ambiance?” Tara questioned with a grin.  
  
  
“Well I could use my cell phone if you prefer,” Willow replied with a playful glare, “But since we’re outside, yes, I’m creating some ambiance.”  
  
  
“Was I complaining?” Tara asked with a small laugh, absently noticing that the speakers stopped playing music as the band started to assemble on stage, “What else have you got in that basket of goodies?”  
  
  
“Well, I have your favourite selection of hot and cold delicatessen delights,” Willow responded with a winning smile as she first brought out two single forks, then some plastic containers with a variety of salads, quiche, olives, cheeses and sandwiches, “And some drinks...”  
  
  
Two bottles of water followed the food, before Willow produced two red-stemmed cocktail glasses, throwing the bubble wrap she’d had around them back into the basket, and then pulling out a flask, confirming its contents by a yellow sticker with a ‘T’ written in black marker.   
  
  
She opened the flask and poured a translucent, red liquid into one of the glasses, which she then handed to Tara.  
  
  
The redhead then produced another flask with a matching sticker that said ‘W’ and poured a similar-looking liquid into the other glass in her hand.  
  
  
“A birthday Cosmopolitan for you,” she said as she held up her glass, “And a cranberry juice for me.”  
  
  
“Never say my wife doesn’t know how to surprise,” Tara grinned as she took a sip from her glass, “Thank you, darling.”  
  
  
“My pleasure,” Willow replied before giving a small jump when music suddenly started again, the band playing the opening notes of ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ without any introductions.  
  
  
She looked towards the stage and smiled at the significantly older but still dressed up as John, Paul, George and Ringo with the same flourish that she remembered from almost a decade ago. Her attention was pulled back however as she felt fingers entwine with her free hand on her lap.  
  
  
She looked up to see her wife reaching across the food.  
  
  
“I wanna hold your hand,” Tara sang along softly as she squeezed their palms together and smiled.  
  
  
Willow felt a flush rise on her cheeks as a warm tingle settled in her abdomen, her standard response whenever Tara sang, especially when it was directed to her. She held up her glass in a silent toast and grinned as her wife clinked hers against it before they both took a sip.  
  
  
They wordlessly watched the band and each other through ‘Eight Days a Week’ and ‘Ticket to Ride’ as they enjoyed the music and their drinks. Once finished, Willow took the glasses and secured them back in the basket before turning back around and picking up an olive, bringing her hand up to offer it to Tara.  
  
  
Tara took the olive between her lips, sucking it from her wife’s fingers and into her mouth before she began slowly chewing on the small, oval bite.  
  
  
“Good?” Willow asked with a grin as she took her hand back, the music played at a level that they could converse without having to raise their voices much.  
  
  
“Salty,” Tara answered as she reached down to the containers, tore a small piece of quiche from the end and offered it to Willow in the same way the olive had been offered to her.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow smiled as she took the proffered food before picking up both forks, holding one out towards the blonde, “I can’t eat the cheeses or the sandwiches with the meat, but everything else looks pretty good, right?  
  
  
“Delicious,” Tara agreed as she picked up a pastrami and provolone sandwich, then brought it up to her mouth, taking a bite and gesturing down at the array of food, “Try something, sweetie.”  
  
  
Willow reached down and speared a spinach leaf and a piece of farfalle pasta that had a light coating of what looked like pesto from one of the containers and nodded approvingly at the flavour, quickly taking another piece.  
  
  
“That’s really good,” she agreed through bites, “This dad in the park told me about this deli over on Hertel Avenue when I got talking to him last week. Said it was the best in Buffalo. He wasn’t kidding.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she chewed before noticing Willow was averting her gaze just slightly. She brought her sandwich down to her lap and eyed the redhead suspiciously.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
Willow continued to shift her gaze for a moment before finally meeting Tara’s eyeline.  
  
  
“He kinda tried to ask me out there.”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow and glanced down at Willow’s hand.  
  
  
“Did he not see that very-shiny ring I put on your finger?”  
  
  
“Not until I showed him,” Willow answered in a pointed but cheery tone, “Along with the very-pretty picture of you I keep in my wallet.”  
  
  
The side of Tara’s lips slowly quirked into a grin and she gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“Guess I can’t blame a guy for trying. Although I’m not sure I should let you go to that park unattended anymore.”  
  
  
Willow playfully rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.  
  
  
“Don’t show me that tongue unless you plan to use it,” Tara teased and Willow quickly shut her mouth before leaning over and making a sound akin to a purring in her wife’s ear.  
  
  
“Later, my love.”  
  
  
She watched as a small shiver went up the blonde’s spine and sat back on the blanket, a smug smile on her face. Tara shook her head to herself and cleared her throat before trying to act nonchalant as the band started up ‘Come Together’.  
  
  
“I love this song.”  
  
  
Willow laughed and inadvertently snorted.  
  
  
“I’ll bet.”  
  
  
Tara blushed, hidden in the dark night sky with only LED stage lights momentarily highlighting her face, though Willow was well aware by the coy and embarrassed smile that the blonde was trying to hide just how red her cheeks would be. She forwent any teasing and instead just shuffled over just enough that she could place her hand atop her wife’s on the blanket.   
  
  
Tara looked towards the redhead with the smile that Willow knew was only ever directed towards her; that screamed ‘I adore you’ and answered back with her own tender smile as her fingers began to lightly stroke the blonde’s.  
  
  
She kept up the action as they both started to enjoy the deli delights again and the band continued through their set list; breaking only between songs for the band members to take a quick drink or change instruments; something both women appreciated as it provided an almost steady stream of good music acting as a background to the enjoyment of just being together.  
  
  
When the containers had only crumbs and specks of remaining food left, Willow moved her hand away for the first time to gather them up and put them back in the basket to dispose of at home before taking the final, unrevealed items; turning back around with an uncovered box of chocolate-dipped strawberries in one hand and a red rose in the other.  
  
  
She grinned as she saw Tara had lay down on her side while her back was turned; the side of her head resting on her palm while her elbow stood propped up on the blanket. Willow placed the strawberries down between them and assumed the same position, facing her wife as she held the rose in her spare hand, reaching out with it to twirl it under the blonde’s nose.  
  
  
Tara smiled and her nose scrunched up slightly.  
  
  
“Trying to make me sneeze?”  
  
  
“No. I’m trying to be adorable,” Willow replied sweetly, before seductively dropping her gaze down to her wife’s lips and further letting them fall until she was shamelessly eyeing the blonde’s breasts. The rose, unintentionally or not, followed the path her eyes had until the petals were stroking the top of Tara’s cleavage. Willow seemed to realise what she was doing after a few moments and tore her gaze back to Tara’s face, but didn’t stop the stroking action with the rose, “And now I’m trying to be naughty.”  
  
  
Tara gave her requisite half-smile.  
  
  
“You’re quite adept at both,” she said in a low tone, before taking the stem of the rose from Willow’s hand and moving it up to tuck it behind her wife’s ear, “But we’ll get kicked out if you keep that up.”  
  
  
“Well, that may be true,” Willow replied, taking the rose from her ear and swapping sides, tucking it behind the blonde’s ear this time, “But this clashes with my hair. Much prettier on you. Not that you need a flower to be gorgeous.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara replied demurely while Willow smiled and picked up one of the strawberries.  
  
  
“Well now this seems like just the right position for me to...” she started as she brought the fruit up to her wife’s mouth, the chocolate end towards her lips, “Offer you one of these.”  
  
  
Tara closed her mouth around the strawberry and bit from the stem down. The hard chocolate flaked off in her mouth and started to melt on her tongue as the juice from the fruit exploded in her mouth, a trickle spilling out from the side of her lips.   
  
  
She moved to wipe it away but felt Willow’s lips get there first, sucking away the errant juice away and lingering for just a moment before moving back, licking her own lips and moving her gaze between her wife’s eyes and mouth.  
  
  
“Can’t have you...sticky.”  
  
  
“Oh we’re quite passed that stage,” Tara replied in a low, playful tone as she took her turn in popping a strawberry in her wife’s mouth before taking another one for herself and chewing seductively, “I’ve been...sticky since you showed up in those tight jeans.”  
  
  
“Tara!” Willow replied, slightly embarrassed but smiling, as she put a hand on the side of her own hip and pulled the belt buckle of her jeans up slightly before letting the material snap back down, “Enjoy this hot bod while you can. You’ll have to sleep beside stretch-marks and puffiness soon.”  
  
  
Tara knew the redhead was joking by her smile and tone of voice but reached over and ran a hand down her arm lovingly, settling above her hip.  
  
  
“You’ll be so beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow playfully scoffed.  
  
  
“When I’m so big I’ll have to roll out of bed and you won’t be able to get on top of me?”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes glinted in the darkness and she let the tips of her fingers slip beneath Willow’s shirt, tapping her skin lightly.  
  
  
“Oh we’ll find a way,” she said as her fingers brushed over her wife’s stomach, “Might even be a cause for some...experimentation.”  
  
  
“You’re so naughty tonight,” Willow replied with an obvious blush, taking Tara’s hand from beneath her shirt and holding it between them, “What’s gotten into you?”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow mischievously.  
  
  
“Hopefully you later.”  
  
  
Willow cleared her throat, embarrassed.  
  
  
“Note to self: Cosmos make you horny.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and shook her head into her palm.  
  
  
“I’m only playing.”  
  
  
“I know,” Willow reassured, bringing the blonde’s hand up to her mouth and kissing her knuckles, “I like it.”  
  
  
Tara started to lean over for a kiss but jumped back slightly in surprise when screechy feedback played out over the speakers as ‘Ringo’ tapped the microphone.  
  
  
“Sorry about that, folks. Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve been wonderful and this has been a great way for us to start the New Year – singing the songs of the most influential band in history. We see a lot of couples out there tonight, so why don’t you use this lovely open space to dance with the one you love to our final song.”  
  
  
The brass sounds of the beginning of ‘All You Need Is Love’ vibrated through the air and Willow turned her hand in the redhead’s, intertwining their fingers.  
  
  
“Shall we?”  
  
  
Tara sat back on her heels and took Willow’s other hand as she stood them both up, stepping off the blanket onto the grass. She settled her hands either side of the redhead’s hips and felt Willow’s arms cross around her neck.  
  
  
“I had a wonderful birthday,” Tara said softly as they swayed, “It was nice just the two of us. Not that I don’t enjoy the parties you always throw me.”  
  
  
“I understand,” Willow replied with a smile, “I think we should take as much time alone as we can before the baby comes along. Remember the chaos of having a newborn?”  
  
  
Tara looked away for a moment.  
  
  
“I remember everything,” she said fondly, “He was so very little.”  
  
  
Willow waited for Tara to look back at her before placing a soft kiss on her lips.  
  
  
“I love you,” she said before moving her head down to rest on the blonde’s chest.  
  
  
Tara whispered a response before starting to quietly hum along to the tune as they moved in time to the music until the final shout-out of ‘love is all you need’ was sung and the stadium erupted in applause.  
  
  
Willow gave the blonde a squeeze before pulling away and joining in on the applause. Tara threw in a whistle of appreciation, which made the redhead laugh and the band gave a few gracious waves to the audience.   
  
  
After another minute of clapping, Willow bent down and began to gather the blanket and any remaining empty containers to the picnic basket. When she stood back up again, she slipped her hand into her wife’s and started walking them towards the exit with the throng of other people heading in the same direction.  
  
  
Once back in their car, Willow turned the key in the ignition but didn’t reverse out of the parking spot, instead just looking over at the blonde.  
  
  
“So, do you want to go get a drink or shall we just...head home?”  
  
  
Tara bit the side of her lip coyly.  
  
  
“Home, please.”  
  
  
“Home we go,” Willow grinned as she began to drive, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel.  
  
  
She indicated onto the adjourning road and hummed a tune to the beat of her tapping, aware in her peripheral vision that Tara was sneaking glances at her but kept her gaze in front of her until she pulled up outside a stoplight and saw the blonde give what looked like a shiver.  
  
  
“I know what you’re thinking about,” she accused playfully, “That look has ‘birthday sex’ written all over it.”  
  
  
“Not completely wrong,” Tara replied, blasé, “Although right this moment I’m wondering whether my head could fit between your legs from this angle.”  
  
  
Willow almost choked on air and could only gape at her wife until a loud beeping from behind indicated that the light had turned green and another motorist was becoming impatient. She managed to compose herself enough to push the car forward, blinking repeatedly in front of her before shaking her head.  
  
  
“You know sympathy pains?” she questioned after a moment, “You’re having sympathy baby-hormones. You didn’t accidentally stick yourself with some of those injections that turned you from a Rosenberg-Maclay to a Horndog-Maclay did you?”  
  
  
“No,” Tara replied as she moved her hand to Willow’s thigh, “But it’s my birthday. And you’re very sexy. And I plan on spending the rest of the night with at least one of my body parts inside you at all times.”  
  
  
Willow squirmed as her body temperature instantly soared.  
  
  
“Ohh, that’s gonna make me crash, that’s gonna make me crash,” she wriggled in her seat and pushed Tara’s hand away before staring intently at the road, “Okay, okay, we just need to...just no sexy looks for the next 10 minutes. Then we will be home. Where our bed is.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara acquiesced and splayed her hands flat on her thighs to stop them from sneaking back over to the other side of the car, “But I need a little something to work with. Have you maybe...got some new underwear to surprise me with?”  
  
  
Willow didn’t dare take her eyes off the road but a small smirk creeped onto her lips; it was a somewhat unspoken tradition that they both bought new lingerie for each other’s birthdays.  
  
  
“I may have something I plan on slipping in to.”  
  
  
Tara dug her fingernails into the fabric of her pants and stretched her neck back against the headrest on the car as her eyes closed and images of a scantily-clad Willow ran though her mind, making her cheeks flush and her pulse pound in her ears until she felt the car come to a halt, with a slight skid as Willow rushed to get them into the driveway.  
  
  
Her eyes flew open and her hand snapped the button to release the seatbelt as she dived over to grab the redhead’s cheeks, and pressed their lips together fervently.  
  
  
Willow moaned into the kiss as she felt Tara’s tongue sweep along her bottom lip and reached behind her in search of the door handle, eventually finding and pulling it so the door unlocked, a quick push letting it fly fully open.  
  
  
She started to slowly step back out of the car, reaching over to pull the blonde’s hips towards her. Tara understood and stared to climb over the seats as best she could. It was by far the most awkward way to get out of the car, as Willow bent over to keep her head under the roof while Tara tried to manoeuvre herself over, but worth every second of continued lip-contact it allowed until they were finally both up-right outside of the car and the door was slammed shut.  
  
  
“I have a shoulder cramp now,” Tara murmured against her wife’s lips as Willow clicked a button to lock the car and started walking them backwards towards the house.  
  
  
“You also have a personal masseuse,” Willow replied through kisses as she searched for the right key so they wouldn’t have to wait when they got to the door, “And I’ll kiss it better.”  
  
  
They arrived at the door and Tara pushed her body against Willow’s so the redhead was pinned.  
  
  
“I want you to kiss a lot more than just my shoulder.”  
  
  
“I want to kiss a lot more than just your shoulder,” Willow replied as she moved the key in the door and turned it to open before pocketing the set again and moving her hands to the base of the taller girl’s shirt, “You’re lucky we don’t have a porch light. The neighbours would have a field day with the amount we end up smooching out here.”  
  
  
She didn’t give the blonde a chance to respond as she suddenly reversed their position so she was the one pushing her body against her wife’s, bringing her mouth tauntingly close to Tara’s and speaking in a whisper.  
  
  
“Now let’s go inside so I can ravish you.”  
  
  
Tara captured her wife’s lips again as she pushed them through the door and felt eager fingers begin to unbutton her shirt as they stepped over the threshold into the pitch-black house, wasting no time in going towards the staircase. She felt the last button being unbuttoned and felt her shirt just hanging over her shoulders as they stepped onto the first stair and brought her hands to the redhead’s pants, snapping the button open and giving them a push so they fell around Willow’s ankles.  
  
  
She heard her wife give a giggle and was about to wrap her arms around the redhead’s waist to help her up the rest of the stairs when the room suddenly burst with unexpected light and a shrill cry of 10 different voices rang out.  
  
  
“Sur–”  
  
  
Willow and Tara stood still in shock as they took in the sight of their friends and family all standing in their living room, looking on at them, balloons spread around the floor and a single banner that said ‘Happy Birthday’ that looked suspiciously similar to the same ones that had been hanging up at Alex’s party strewn across the top of the doorway.   
  
  
Everyone stayed in shocked silence until Xander broke the silence with a nervous gulp as a balloon in his hand bounced up and down on its string, the only movement in the room.  
  
  
“–prise?”


	29. Chapter 29

  
  
Tara was the first to react as she suddenly spun around and started buttoning her shirt at lightning speed.  
  
  
“Oh my god,” she groaned before looking over to see her wife had yet to move, despite her pants being around her ankles and called out in a hiss, “Willow!”  
  
  
Willow squealed and dropped down to secure her pants around her waist, flustering with her button and blushing bright red. She could see Tara had her back facing the mostly-astonished-looking group and was holding her head in her hands. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.  
  
  
“What the hell?!”  
  
  
“We were throwing Tara a surprise party so you wouldn’t have to endure the financial stress of trying to host one yourself,” Anya said matter-of-factly and with a smile, “Surprise! It was my idea. I brought balloons from the kid’s party and we provided our own alcohol.”  
  
  
Willow tried to process the entire situation, but her brain only allowed a response to the same thing she’d remembered conversing with Anya about before, when she’d informed her of the lack of party.  
  
  
“We’re not having money issues!!”  
  
  
Anya looked unconvinced.  
  
  
“Then why no party?”  
  
  
“BECAUSE I WANTED TO TAKE MY WIFE OUT BY OURSELVES,” Willow shouted, seeing Tara wince at the tone but didn’t have a chance to react as the shout seemed to snap the others to attention as they started to scramble and cover their eyes, rushing around in an effort to get out of the room as quickly as possible.  
  
  
“Oh god.”  
  
  
“Sweet jesus.”  
  
  
“We need...I need, we need to...”  
  
  
“Door, door!”  
  
  
“I didn’t see anything, I swear!”  
  
  
“We just thought it was a good idea...”  
  
  
“Anya said...we didn’t know...We had the spare key and...”  
  
  
“We’re going, we’re going.”  
  
  
“So sorry, Willow, Tara, so sorry,” Xander gushed as he followed the throng of other people making a beeline for the door, “We will never speak of this again. We’re leaving, just...so sorry.”  
  
  
He tried to drag his wife along with him but Anya stayed rooted to the spot, question on her face as she continued to try to fathom why Willow had taken away the only reason why she stayed sane during the children’s party each year – conflict with the redhead she often had, but even she could admit the Rosenberg-Maclays knew how to throw a party.  
  
  
Which is why she’d told Xander that they were going to be taking over when informed of the non-event of that year. And once Anya got an idea in her head, there was no stopping her.   
  
  
“Why not just hold a party for after then?”  
  
  
Willow’s mouth hung open and she could only gesture towards Tara in indication of the previous state of undress, which caused a look of realisation to cross over her features.  
  
  
“Oh. Right. Orgasms,” she nodded, before giving a thumbs up, “I approve.”  
  
  
Xander saw Willow start to seethe and all but picked up his wife, running them out of the house while Anya yelled at him.  
  
  
“Xander, stop! You’re hurting me! Xander, I need my jacket! Our car’s two blocks away, it’s cold! Xander...!”  
  
  
The door slammed with a resounding bang and Willow watched it in disbelief for a few seconds before turning to Tara, who was still holding her head in her hands and put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
  
“Baby...” she started, at a loss for words, “I...I’m sorry I yelled.”  
  
  
Tara turned and fell into Willow’s chest, arms instantly wrapping around her as she groaned.  
  
  
“Your dad, Willow! And...Michelle...everyone...oh god...”  
  
  
Willow soothed the blonde with gentle strokes up and down her back, then kissed the top of her head.  
  
  
“At least I wasn’t going commando.”  
  
  
Tara managed a laugh and pulled back with a small smile on her face. Willow cupped her cheek.  
  
  
“There’s my girl’s pretty smile.”  
  
  
Tara looked over to the balloons scattered all over the floor and brought a hand up to her mouth as she recalled what had just happened. She tried to internally process all that had been said, one thing giving her pause. She looked to her wife.  
  
  
“Money issues?”  
  
  
Willow threw her hands up and shrugged.  
  
  
“I don’t even...Anya couldn’t understand why there was no party this year and she jumped to conclusions. You know. She’s Anya.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small nod and smiled just a little.  
  
  
“Taking away everything that happened...it’s actually quite sweet that she’d want to do that.”  
  
  
Willow’s whole face softened as she looked at her wife with adoration.  
  
  
“You always see the good. I love that about you.”  
  
  
Tara accepted a soft kiss being placed on her lips before the humiliation of it all hit her again and she dropped her head to the redhead’s chest.  
  
  
“I’m so embarrassed.”  
  
  
“It’s okay, baby,” Willow reassured, “I mean, how many times have we been walked in on now? It’s like a rite of passage.”  
  
  
“Not normally by everyone all at once,” Tara replied as she shook her head, before what could have been interpreted as a mischievous smile fell on her lips, “At least they didn’t wait another 3 seconds to turn on the lights. My hand would have been in your panties.  
  
  
Willow reddened slightly and got a coy smile on her face.  
  
  
“We don’t have to let this ruin our evening,” she said softly as she trailed a finger down the side of her wife’s face, “I still have that negligee I was going to slip in to. Or I can just get a washcloth and hold it to your face until you stop blushing. Whatever you want.”  
  
  
Tara saw that either offer was genuine, but it didn’t take it long for her to decide which one she preferred.  
  
  
“A negligee, huh?” she asked, her eyes shining, “Deal with...this tomorrow?”  
  
  
Willow smiled and nodded before bringing a hand up to the side of Tara’s head and motioned plucking something.  
  
  
“Until tomorrow,” she started as she tossed her hand to the side as if discarding what she’d pulled from the blonde’s mind, “It didn’t happen.”  
  
  
“What didn’t happen?” Tara asked with a grin.  
  
  
“Nothing,” Willow grinned back before she started pushing Tara back up the stairs, “Now to continue on our never-ending quest to get each other naked.”  
  
  
Tara giggled as the redhead swooped up to kiss her, sucking the blonde’s bottom lip into her mouth. Tara moaned and grabbed onto Willow’s hips as they ascended the stairs and turned down the hallway and into their bedroom, where the smaller girl walked them over and pushed her wife onto the bed as she grinned cheekily.  
  
  
“Wait right there.”  
  
  
Tara watched as Willow went over to the closet and reached into the back of it, pulling out a white bag with the pink logo of a well-known lingerie store embossed on the front, which she left the room with.  
  
  
Tara flopped down onto the mattress and gave a shiver of anticipation as she kicked her shoes off, then sat up to turn the lamp on her nightstand on. She sat back and started to fluff her hair, then after a quick glance down, undid the first two buttons on her shirt so her cleavage was just starting to show and was just contemplating undoing the third when Willow’s voice pulled her attention to the doorway.  
  
  
“I hear we have a birthday girl in the room tonight.”  
  
  
Tara inhaled sharply as she saw Willow lean provocatively against the doorframe, the deep purple negligee falling down her slender frame and stopping mid-thigh and the bust pushing up her breasts, her creamy flesh almost falling out of the garment.  
  
  
“Hello, yummy.”  
  
  
“Do you like it?” Willow asked, walking into the room and towards the bed, “I got one to...accentuate my, ah...increased bust of late.”  
  
  
“I can see,” Tara replied as her hands went to the redhead’s hips, rubbing them beneath the satin-soft feel of the negligee as she dropped her head to her wife’s collarbone, placing her lips over a protruding bone there, trailing them down to circle the tops of her breasts, “Mmhh...”  
  
  
Willow pulled the blonde’s head further into her breasts, leaning forwards in the process and inadvertently pushing Tara back down onto the mattress, falling on top of her, chest in the same position.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday to me,” Tara’s mumbled voice came out as she wrapped her arms around the redhead’s back and let her tongue fall from her mouth as she tasted the skin surrounding her.  
  
  
Willow let out a sound between a giggle and a moan as she felt the blonde’s hands run along her back through the fabric before the awkward positioning of being bent over the bed and Tara started to cause an ache in her shoulders.  
  
  
“Baby? Can we just get on the bed properly...legs...”  
  
  
Tara swung her legs onto the bed in one quick movement, making Willow stumble momentarily before she managed to readjust her position so she was hovering on top of her wife, the taller girl’s head still nestled in her chest.  
  
  
“Is it my turn yet?” Willow asked after a few minutes and saw the blonde raise her head in question, “Don’t think I didn’t see that cleavage you were offering when I walked in.”  
  
  
Tara got an amused smile on her face.  
  
  
“It’s _my_ birthday.”  
  
  
“And _I’m_ pregnant,” Willow retorted, smiling as her tongue stuck out between her teeth, “Carrying your baby equals all the boobie time I want. Baby card trumps birthday card.”  
  
  
“Baby card trumps everything,” Tara replied with an adoring smile as she threw her arms around the redhead’s neck, “But let’s get back to the boobs before I decide I need to spend the rest of the night kissing your stomach.”  
  
  
Willow grinned against her wife’s lips as they were pressed together warmly and began to trail a finger down Tara’s cleavage and further down her shirt, snapping each metallic button open on her way.   
  
  
When she unfastened the last one, she moved her hand up and splayed her fingers out on her wife’s toned stomach, creeping them upwards until she felt the lacy material of her bra and slipped inside, cupping the generous globes of flesh and moaning as she felt the skin start to pucker beneath her touch.  
  
  
Tara arched her back as she felt the redhead start to brush her thumb across her nipples and threw her head back against the pillows when a quick pinch sent a jolt of pleasure through her body.  
  
  
Willow took the opportunity to use her now-freed mouth to bury her face into Tara’s neck; nipping and sucking at her wife’s soft skin and smiling against her when she heard a loud moan fall down towards her as she ran her tongue along the curve of the taller girl’s ear.  
  
  
“I want you,” she whispered as she grated her teeth just lightly against the blonde’s lobe, “What do you want me to do to you, baby?”  
  
  
When she got no response a moment later, she lifted her head to see a closed-eyed and flushed Tara with a grin on her face and smirked when she felt a pushing on her shoulders.   
  
  
“You’re wearing too many clothes for that.”  
  
  
“You’ve never had a problem undressing me,” Tara murmured in reply before chuckling quietly and opening her mirth-filled eyes, “Except our wedding night when you couldn’t get my bra off.”  
  
  
Willow blushed a deep red and crinkled her brow in the beginnings of a pout.  
  
  
“Hey! You promised you forgot about that!”  
  
  
Tara couldn’t suppress her grin but adopted a sultry tone as she leant up so her mouth was against her wife’s ear, her hot breath hitting the redhead’s lobe.  
  
  
“Just strip me.”  
  
  
Tara heard the smaller girl’s breathing audibly quicken as she settled her head back against the pillow. Willow’s eyes closed momentarily as her tongue swept across her bottom lip, before she opened them, though narrowed and brought her finger up in a stern, wagging motion.  
  
  
“Never bring it up again.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes became even more mischievous as she leant up again and took the tip of her lover’s finger between her lips, pushing down on it and letting her teeth just lightly grate along the skin until her lips wrapped around the base and she sucked, swirling her tongue along the digit in her mouth.  
  
  
Willow let out a low whimper as she felt the wet warmth surrounding her finger and moaned as her eyes hungrily devoured the erotic sight of Tara sucking on her finger, propped up on just her elbows behind her.  
  
  
After several minutes and a series of throaty moans from Tara that made Willow feel her arousal spill out onto her thighs, the blonde caught the smaller girl’s wrist between her thumb and forefinger and slowly retracted her wife’s finger from her mouth; pulling the side of her bra down and using her hold to bring the wet digit to her breast, circling her now rock-hard nipple and coating it in saliva.  
  
  
She dropped her hand and grinned in satisfaction when Willow continued to tease her taut bud, seemingly entranced as she spoke absently.  
  
  
“Uh...Um...Uh...W-what was I saying?”  
  
  
Tara leant forwards to her wife’s other ear, whispering in that same low, seductive tone as she had just a few minutes before.  
  
  
“That you wanted to rip my clothes off.”   
  
  
She pulled back to see a slow-stretching grin forming on the redhead’s face and a moment later felt the more steady weight of her wife leaning over her upper body while hands moved to rest on the skin just above her hips, each pinky finger dipping inside the waistband of her pants and lightly stroking her hipbone.  
  
  
“Right.”  
  
  
Tara watched as Willow’s head came slowly towards her, in a synced speed with her hands, moving inwards until she was met with a kiss that pulled all the air from her lungs as she felt her pants being roughly torn open and pushed down her legs and to her ankles. She bent her feet downwards so the pants would fall off and to the floor and felt the fabric rushing past her toes as a hand slipped inside the front of her panties.  
  
  
She moaned as two fingers lightly stroked her inner lips, feeling Willow’s mouth vibrate against her as the redhead swallowed the sound and answered the moans by deepening the kiss and bringing her fingers up to the bump in the blonde's flesh, rubbing her pads over it, back and forth, feeling Tara's thighs squeezing together and trapping her hand.  
  
  
Willow broke their kiss and stilled her movements, feeling a groan of frustration almost immediately and feeling a push of warm flesh against her hand. She waited for Tara’s glassy eyes to flutter open and look at her before grinning down and lifting her hand from her wife’s panties completely.  
  
  
“You’re not naked yet.”  
  
  
Tara puffed out a breath of frustration before pushing herself up into a sitting position with Willow facing her in her lap.  
  
  
“I have given you...ample opportunity to take my clothes off,” she said, their faces less than a centimetre apart and her eyes boring into the emerald orbs staring back at her, “Now you’re just teasing.”  
  
  
A small smirk formed on the redhead’s lips as she moved her hands up and slipped them under the hanging fabric of the taller girl’s shirt, onto her shoulders and moving them down her arms in a caress that brought the garment with her.  
  
  
“I never said I wasn’t.”  
  
  
Tara saw Willow swat her fallen shirt from the bed out of the corner of her eye and felt an involuntary shiver go up her spine as her sides were massaged upwards and inwards, moving towards the clasp of her bra. She let out a shaky breath and gave her lover a small smile.  
  
  
“You will be the death of me, Willow Rosenberg.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes narrowed just slightly, enough that Tara noticed but only because she was so close, and she pulled the straps of her wife’s bra, that she had already loosened, down her arms and threw it over her shoulder before bringing one down to the blonde’s hip and using her body to pin her against the mattress again.  
  
  
“It is Willow. Rosenberg. Maclay,” she said, punctuating each name with a wet kiss along the taller girl’s throat before moving up so they were face-to-face again, “And it’s a very important distinction.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“I know.”  
  
  
“It is!” Willow continued, as if Tara hadn’t just agreed, “Being a Rosenberg, it...it was never anything. I mean, yea things are great with my dad now, but they weren’t for a long time, and my mom...eurgh, let's not even go there. Having my parent’s name wasn’t a part of me, because I felt so separate from them. But being a _Rosenberg-Maclay_ , it’s, it’s completely different. It’s like we didn’t just put our names together, we made a whole new name that was just for us, for you and me and our children, our family, and...”  
  
  
Tara could see her wife was starting to get lost in a patented-Willow-tangent and as willing as she normally was to listen, the topic in hand was not something she needed to be convinced of and body parts other than her ears were burning.  
  
  
She grabbed the back of the smaller girl’s neck and cut off her words by crushing their lips together for several seconds before pulling back and giving her trademark half-smile, stretched brazenly across her face.  
  
  
“Would you like to talk about name semantics or would you like to fuck me?”  
  
  
Willow audibly gulped as she struggled to form words for a moment before finally succeeding.  
  
  
“The second one.”  
  
  
“That’s what I thought,” Tara murmured and went to lean up to her wife’s lips again but stopped just short, “What you said was really beautiful. I love you, Willow Rosenberg-Maclay.”  
  
  
Willow’s lips shot upwards in a smile that reached her eyes and made them gleam with happiness. She grabbed a hold of both of Tara’s hips and let out a giggle.  
  
  
“C’mere and let me do naughty things to you, wifey.”  
  
  
Tara laughed out loud as Willow buried her face in her neck and tickled her skin with darting tongue movements.  
  
  
“Does that tickle?” Willow asked as she continued.  
  
  
“Yes,” Tara laughed as she playfully writhed beneath the redhead.  
  
  
Willow smiled against the skin beneath her lips and started to trail them down, over her collarbone, stopping as she got to the tops of her breasts and sitting back so she was straddling the blonde, openly leering her naked chest.  
  
  
“I think those are the first things I want to do naughty things to.”  
  
  
Tara was doing her own leering, of Willow’s thighs, their smooth and milky-white complexion contrasting so nicely against the rich colour of the negligee. She reached out and entwined both sets of fingers and dragged her gaze up to meet the redhead’s eyes with a grin.  
  
  
“You look so delicious in that. I don’t know whether I want to take it off.”  
  
  
“Well...I think you’ll find...” Willow replied, taking one set of hands and moving it between her legs, placing the blonde’s hand on her intimate, naked flesh, “That it’s not entirely necessary.”  
  
  
“Mmmhhh,” Tara moaned in appreciation at the lack of clothing barrier as she cupped her wife’s core, feeling the heat radiate into her palm.  
  
  
Willow bit her lip to contain a moan as she pushed her hips against the blonde’s hand, letting her eyes flutter closed as she waited for the inevitable feeling of fingers beginning to stroke her but instead found herself wide-eyed in surprise as Tara dropped her hand and whipped the redhead’s negligee over her head, before flipping the smaller girl onto her back in a move that took less than a few seconds to complete.  
  
  
Willow was still trying to process the sudden change in position when she felt her wife’s hand softly caress down her side and looked up into smiling blue eyes of the body hovering above her.  
  
  
“You are much too beautiful not to be fully seen.”  
  
  
Willow felt her breath quicken as Tara’s hand briefly moved over her thigh before soft fingertips dotted back up over her stomach. She let out a quiet moan as her lids began to droop again.  
  
  
“Only by you.”  
  
  
“Aren’t I lucky?” Tara replied as she moved her lips into her wife’s neck and placed lingering, tender kisses against the delicate skin, “Only my eyes get to see you.”  
  
  
Willow began to lightly clutch at the sheet as she felt Tara’s fingers creep towards her breast and gasped when they began to circle her puckering flesh as the blonde’s voice continued to fall into her ear.  
  
  
“Only my hands get to touch you.”  
  
  
Willow strained her neck back against the pillows as the taller girl’s kisses began to move down her chest and a warm tongue flicked over her nipple.  
  
  
“Only my lips get to feel your skin.”  
  
  
“Tarrraaa...” Willow moaned, feeling like a burning poker was being pushed against every piece of skin her wife touched, “What are you...how are you doing this to me?”  
  
  
The redhead felt her wife smile against her breast before her hand cupped it fully and the blonde moved back to kiss her neck.  
  
  
“Well, if you’re a Tara-whisperer,” Tara started with a low chuckle in her voice, “It’s only fair that I get to be a Willow-whisperer too.”  
  
  
Willow could only nod silently as Tara started to suck and nibble on her ear lobe before whispering softly.  
  
  
“It means I’m the only one who gets to make love to you.”  
  
  
Willow cried out loudly as two fingers entered her and her hands flew to the back of her wife’s neck, digging in as she felt a flash of white-hot tension stretch across her abdomen.  
  
  
“Ohhhhh!”   
  
  
Tara sucked on the skin under the redhead’s ear and moved her hand in and out of her wife rhythmically, using her hips to give her more leverage. She felt the hands on her neck tighten every few moments, accompanied by a sting of incoherent moans.  
  
  
“Oh Tara,” Willow groaned, bringing her knees up and locking them against the blonde’s hips to encourage their downward movement against her, “Tara...”  
  
  
She felt heat consume her as Tara’s body grinded against hers in their movements; thighs slapping against each other, chests heaving together, sweaty skin hitting sweaty skin, each second of contact propelling Willow into a deeper state of ecstasy.  
  
  
“I’m so close, baby,” she breathed, reaching one hand up to entwine firmly in the blonde’s hair.  
  
  
Tara began to trail her lips up along the redhead’s jaw with butterfly kisses as she curled her fingers and reached for the spot inside Willow that she knew would send her wife over the edge. A feel of spongy flesh and gasping breaths a moment later told her she’d found what she was looking for as she moved to rest their foreheads together.  
  
  
Willow instinctively opened her eyes and felt a telling tingle shoot through her as she watched Tara watch her come undone. Her gaze dropped momentarily to the blonde’s smiling lips as her hand let go of the tight hold she had on Tara’s hair and moved down to cup her cheek, leaning up to kiss her.   
  
  
When their lips touched, she felt the final swell burst inside her, causing each nerve to jump and every muscle to ripple in shuddering pleasure as Tara kissed her through her climax and brought her out the other side with gentle strokes to her sated flesh until a needy voice was whispering in her ear.  
  
  
“I need you, Willow. Please.”  
  
  
Willow turned her still-flushed face to the side to meet her wife’s eye and flashed her teeth in a grin. Tara recognised the look and whimpered.  
  
  
“Don’t make me beg.”  
  
  
Willow seemed to contemplate for a moment before her grin widened and she pressed their lips together while rolling the blonde onto her back, pushing her tongue forwards into her wife’s mouth, then retracting it before Tara could try to meet it. She repeated the pattern until she felt the body beneath her was going to writhe right through the bed if she didn’t give her some relief soon and pulled back from the blonde’s lips, moving her hands to rest just above Tara’s breasts.  
  
  
“You wanted something earlier. Would that still be...okay?”  
  
  
Tara eagerly nodded and licked her kiss-swollen lips.  
  
  
“Oh yes,” she agreed before biting her lip seductively, “Especially if you do what you were just doing.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and nodded.  
  
  
“Oh I can definitely do that.”  
  
  
She kissed her wife again, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth momentarily before releasing it and enthusiastically moving down the blonde’s body and taking the familiar position between her legs and licked her lips as the saw the visible build-up of excitement.  
  
  
“I love it when you’re really wet,” she said, turning her head to the side and licking some of the escaped arousal from Tara's thigh with a moan.  
  
  
“Willow, please,” Tara called down and bucked her hips forwards.  
  
  
Willow centered her head again and pulled Tara’s left leg over her shoulder, splaying a hand out on her right thigh as she used her tongue to separate the swollen lips that were wanton with need, gathering the warm liquid and moaning again as it fell down her throat.  
  
  
Tara groaned as she felt the soft tongue gliding against her velvet folds and placed her hand atop her wife’s head, pulling her as close in as possible, making a series of short, sharp gasps leave her mouth when Willow focused in on her entrance and began to imitate her movements in the blonde’s mouth a few minutes before, as promised; thrusting in and out and dragging her tongue against the taller girl’s front wall.  
  
  
“Faster,” Tara requested throatily and felt Willow’s hand leave her thigh and move underneath her, holding her buttock up as her tongue strokes got faster, “Mmhhhh...”  
  
  
She could feel a steady throbbing rise in her stomach; part of her wanting to stave off the growing tension and keep Willow permanently between her legs but her primal urges to let go were winning the internal debate.   
  
  
She needed to feel the sweet release she was only moments away from experiencing; every second from when Willow had appeared in the doorway wearing the tight negligee, every touch electrifying her skin and causing the touch of the redhead's tongue to tighten the coil of pleasure stretching across her body.  
  
  
“Willow,” she gasped, pushing her hips down against the wriggling muscle in an effort to get her deeper inside, “Oh, my...more...”  
  
  
Willow moved as fast as could, all too aware of how quickly Tara was nearing the edge and doing her damndest to get her there as well. When she felt the blonde's hips begin to move fast enough to keep themselves elevated, she took her hand back from Tara's rear and reached across, sliding her fingers across the taller girl's lips until she felt the bump in the flesh she was looking for and began rubbing back and forth at a quickened pace, feeling her lover dig her heel into the small of her back and the hand on her head start to pull at her hair.  
  
  
She smiled internally, loving the effect she was having on her wife, and kept up her ministrations as she felt the beginnings of Tara's orgasm; the twitching of the thighs against her ears, the deep heat and ripples around her tongue, the animalistic pushing of the blonde's hips against her face and the loud and rasping grunts that accompanied it until finally she felt the trashing body tense and a gush of juices flow into her mouth, hearing a reverent, husky whisper.  
  
  
“Willow.”   
  
  
She stilled her fingers as the tight bud continued to throb under the pads and greedily lapped up the rewards of her efforts until Tara's leg fell from her shoulder and her body went limp against the mattress. Willow let her hand fall away then but continued to softly lick the warm flesh until she was confident she felt the last spasm and started to move her head upwards, placing soft kisses on the dewy blonde hair of her wife's mound and up to her stomach, kissing a straight line between her breasts and up her throat, before finally reaching her lips.  
  
  
Tara parted her lips slightly as she felt slow, tender kisses being placed against them and sighed in satisfaction when she felt a hand wipe hair away from her brow and stroke down her silky locks. She let her eyes flutter open and saw Willow already staring back at her, smiling as she pulled her lips back just an inch. Tara smiled back.  
  
  
“It's a good day when it starts and ends with your tongue inside me.”   
  
  
Willow gave a quiet giggle and ran her thumb over the blonde's eyebrow before leaning over to kiss each of her eyelids.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday, honey.”   
  
  
Tara continued to smile as Willow moved her hand down to cup her cheek and kissed her nose before suddenly groaning when the redhead moved back and covering her eyes with her hand.  
  
  
“What's wrong?” Willow asked in concern, frowning, “That's the wrong kinda groan to be hearing I'm on top of you, naked.”   
  
  
Tara pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.  
  
  
“I just remembered what happened downst-”   
  
  
“No,” Willow cut the blonde off before she could finish, “No. We have a deal. Not allowed think about that.”   
  
  
Tara shook her head into her hands.  
  
  
“But they saw-”   
  
  
“No,” Willow repeated sternly, taking Tara's hand from her face so she could look in her eyes, “All you are allowed think about tonight...is this.”   
  
  
She leant down and pressed their lips together warmly for several moments before pulling back hitting her nose softly against the blonde's affectionately.  
  
  
“Okay?”  
  
  
Tara just nodded, her lips quirked upwards.  
  
  
“Good,” Willow smiled, nodding in satisfaction, “'Cause that other thing...”  
  
  
She sighed momentarily before dropping her head into her wife's neck and began nuzzling, speaking between lip caresses.   
  
  
“That...is a problem for tomorrow.”


	30. Chapter 30

  
  
Tara felt herself jolt awake as something slammed suddenly into her body and opened her eyes to see that her wife had apparently been in need of a slumbering cuddle and had thrown herself against her quite snugly.   
  
  
She gave a soft smile and gently turned in the redhead’s embrace so the smaller girl was spooning her and let her eyes close again. She was just drifting back into dreamland when she felt the arm around her middle squeeze tightly and heard a deep inhalation against the back of her head.  
  
  
Everything was still for a few moments until Tara felt a nuzzling against her hair and the hand that was on her stomach begin to move up her arm; Willow’s fingertips dancing along her skin, then brushing her hair aside, followed by the feeling of soft lips caressing her shoulder blade.  
  
  
She tilted her head further into the pillow to let Willow know she was awake and felt a firmer kiss being placed on the piece of skin where her neck met her shoulder while a sleepy but obviously smiling voice called up to her ear.  
  
  
“Mornin', sexy.”  
  
  
“Good morning,” Tara replied, feeling Willow’s hand slide back down her arm and take her hand over her stomach.  
  
  
“Did you sleep well?” Willow asked, stretching her body out behind the blonde’s and feeling her hips push against her wife’s buttocks as she did so.  
  
  
“Very,” Tara murmured, a small grin spreading on her face, “You certainly earned your keep last night.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and started to trail her kisses along the arc of the taller girl’s ear.  
  
  
“I did, did I?”  
  
  
“You know you did,” Tara replied in a low voice, before a small moan escaped her when the redhead started to scrap her teeth on her lobe, “What are you doing?”  
  
  
Willow giggled and adopted the same tone the blonde had a moment before.  
  
  
“You know what I’m doing.”  
  
  
Tara felt the familiar flutterings rising from her stomach and glanced over her shoulder to meet the redhead’s eye.  
  
  
“It’s...it’s tomorrow.”  
  
  
Willow kept her gaze locked with her wife as she continued to kiss around her neck and dropped the blonde’s hand, moving her fingers down over Tara’s hipbone, following its curve until she was stroking the downy flesh of her lover’s mound and let one finger fall between her folds, seeking out the nub of flesh that was throbbing there and applying a light, circular pressure.  
  
  
She watched Tara’s lips part through a gasp and increased the pressure of her finger while kissing back up to her wife’s ear and whispering in it.  
  
  
“Can’t tomorrow wait another hour or so?”  
  
  
She dropped another finger between the blonde’s nether-lips and coated it in the gathered moisture before pinching Tara’s clit, which made her arch her back and let out a long, guttural moan before suddenly turning so she was facing Willow and reaching out to grab her cheek, pulling her in for a steamy kiss.  
  
  
Willow quickly adjusted her hand so it was back in the same position and started to rub over the hard nub at a quickened pace, making Tara moan loudly again into the redhead's mouth before pulling away with an audible pop.  
  
  
“Tomorrow can wait,” she breathed, biting her lip momentarily before looking at her wife intently, “I can't. Get inside me. Now.”  
  
  
“Yes, ma'am,” Willow agreed without hesitation, taking her hand away from the blonde's clit and using it to throw Tara's leg over her own hip before reacquainting herself with the soft folds and searching for her entrance, easily slipping two fingers into the passage a moment later.  
  
  
Tara gasped in pleasure and dug her knee in deeply against the side of Willow's buttocks as she thrust her hips forwards, her hand moving up from the redhead's cheek and entwining in her hair, letting the sensation of her wife's fingers moving inside her overwhelm her in the best possible way.  
  
  
Willow was happily watching the myriad of ecstasy-ridden expressions cross Tara's face as she moved her fingers slowly and deeply, curling them on every third stroke and hitting the soft spot inside, grinning as she felt her wife jolt into her on each occasion. When the blonde's hand kept inadvertently pushing her head down as the fingers in her hair tightened, she used the opportunity to drop her head to the taller girl's chest and took an already-hard nipple in her mouth.  
  
  
“Yes...yes...” Tara moaned, simultaneously thrusting her hips and chest into Willow and pulling her closer with her hand and knee, before groaning loudly as the redhead bit down, “Oh god!”  
  
  
Willow greedily suckled on the taut flesh, opening her mouth and taking as much of her wife's breast as she could, feeling the wetness around her hand increase the volume of the blonde's cries rose dramatically.  
  
  
“Oh...Oh...Oh!”  
  
  
Willow slowly released Tara's breast until just her nipple was in her mouth again. She grated her teeth on it for a few moments before giving a final suck and raising her head, pressing her lips to her surprised wife's mouth, pulling away only when she saw the blonde's eyes open and gave her a grin.  
  
  
“The name you're looking for is Willow.”  
  
  
“Willow,” Tara whispered, seeing her wife’s eyes darken considerably.  
  
  
Willow’s grin got a little wider and she was about to ask Tara to say her name again, when she felt the blonde take her leg back and her grin faltered.  
  
  
“Hey-” she started to protest before cutting herself off as she felt Tara’s hand move between her legs and start to rub her clit, “Mmhhh, oh baby...”  
  
  
They both readjusted themselves for a moment until their hands comfortably fit where they needed to be most and Willow moved her head onto Tara’s pillow, and her spare hand to the blonde’s neck, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth as she resumed her movements below and felt her wife replace the fingers on her clit with her thumb as those fingers moved down and pushed inside her.  
  
  
Their hips rocked towards each other in a steady rhythm as the intensity of their kissing increased, their tongues playing and moving between mouths until Willow suddenly pulled away, gasping.  
  
  
“More, baby, please,” she said breathlessly as she dropped her head into the crook of the blonde’s neck, groaning loudly when three fingers entered her on the next thrust.  
  
  
Tara moaned as she stretched her wife’s walls out around her and felt Willow give weak attempts at kissing and licking her neck; the redhead disrupting herself with whimpers and moans until she heard a hitched breath and raised her head onto the pillow again.  
  
  
“Please wait.”  
  
  
She watched Tara barely open her heavy-lidded eye and give a small nod before closing them completely again, then felt the thumb that had been resting on her clit start to flick the sensitive tip vigorously. She closed her eyes as well and focused only on the movements of hers and Tara’s hands.  
  
  
“I’m almost there, baby,” she said softly and felt Tara purposefully clench her inner muscles around her fingers, the sensation definitely helping things along, “So close...”  
  
  
Tara squeezed her muscles again, making sure to keep the tension inside her body taut as she concentrated on staying perched at the edge of ecstasy; not quite sure how much longer her body could last until finally Willow moaned a telling moan in her ear and the hand on her neck started to clutch down her back.  
  
  
“Tarrraaa...” Willow called, feeling contractions but not quite sure whether they were her own or Tara’s before determining it was both, then gasped as her insides bubbled over with pleasure.  
  
  
Tara felt her climax wash over her as soon as the last elongated syllable of her name left her wife’s mouth and quietly repeated ‘I love you’ as her body shook into Willow’s, each shudder accompanying another declaration until they both stilled and jerked to a halt, remaining stilled in pleasure before collapsing into one another, each taking deep lungfuls of air.  
  
  
After a few minutes; bodies calmed and fingers gently extracted, Willow rolled onto her back and blew the piece of hair that had fallen onto her brow upwards with a grin before pushing herself into a sitting position and stretching her back out.  
  
  
“I love you,” she murmured in satisfaction as she brought one arm over her head and tensed, before looking over her shoulder with a smile, “Too.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and stretched her own body out under the sheet.  
  
  
“Morning sex two days in a row,” she replied, reaching out and placing her hand on the back of Willow’s shoulder blade, “I feel like we’re in college again.”  
  
  
“I have all the stamina of my college-self,” Willow replied in mock-indignation, taking the blonde’s hand from her shoulder and kissing her knuckles before leaning over and planting a warm kiss on her lips, pulling back with grinning eyes, “I’d keep you in bed all day every day if I could.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly as Willow shuffled down in the bed and rested her head on the blonde’s stomach through the sheet and began to play with the redhead's hair.  
  
  
“I’d miss our boy.”  
  
  
Willow reached down and pulled the end of the blanket up so Tara’s lower leg was exposed and began to stroke her calf.  
  
  
“We could have regularly scheduled intermissions where we are temporarily clothed and can have family snuggles.”  
  
  
Tara continued to smile as she began to run her hand down her wife’s arm.  
  
  
“What about the baby?”  
  
  
Willow smiled back and felt the flutter in her belly she always felt when the growing life inside her was mentioned.  
  
  
“Well she can join in on the snuggles too, when she gets here.”  
  
  
Tara stilled the movements on the redhead’s arm for a moment.  
  
  
“She?”  
  
  
“Or he,” Willow replied with a small shrug, before glancing over her shoulder, “Just a feeling.”  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
“You didn’t tell me you were having ‘feelings’.”  
  
  
“Well I didn’t know ‘til it popped out of my mouth,” Willow replied, playfully sticking out her tongue, “It’s way too early to know that kind of stuff anyway. I read in one of those books that it’ll be another couple of weeks until the baby even starts to develop ovaries or testicles. Even if we had the most advanced, space-agey ultrasound in the world, we wouldn’t know if we had a little XX or XY yet.”  
  
  
Tara’s smile got a little wider as Willow settled her head back against her stomach.  
  
  
“We have a little you, that’s all I care about.”  
  
  
Tara could see Willow’s beaming smile despite looking at the back of her head and moved her hand up to stroke her wife’s hair. They were silent for quite a few comfortable minutes until Tara felt Willow start to shift her head slightly lower and gave a small laugh.  
  
  
“You really can’t resist me, can you?”  
  
  
Willow turned her head on the sheet.  
  
  
“Nope,” she replied with happy acceptance, “But I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about right this moment.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and raised her hips beneath her wife’s head.  
  
  
“You always manage to find your way between my legs,” she responded, throwing a wink downwards, “Although there’s normally not a sheet between.”  
  
  
A slow, sly grin spread on Willow’s face.  
  
  
“Well that’s something I can fix,” she said, picking up the sheet and slipping her head beneath it, only to be stopped when she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder and looked up to see Tara peering down at her under the fabric, “What?”  
  
  
“As much as I would love for you to do what you want to do,” Tara started to reply in regret, “I think I’m going to need the ability to walk and pick up our son today. And after last night and this morning...well I think I might be permanently melded to the bed if you work your magic anymore today.”  
  
  
Willow looked down at where her head was hovering above the apex of her wife’s thighs and frowned before climbing up Tara’s body and dropping her eyes into a pout.  
  
  
“Tease.”  
  
  
Tara reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind the redhead’s ear.  
  
  
“I wasn’t trying to tease you. I was just making a casual observation.”  
  
  
“And I...” Willow replied, dropping her head into Tara’s neck and kissing whatever skin her lips found, “Was just trying to casually observe _you_.”  
  
  
Tara let her neck tilt slightly and smirked.  
  
  
“With your tongue.”  
  
  
“You like my tongue,” Willow murmured against the blonde’s neck, swirling said slippery muscle out and swirling it around in demonstration.  
  
  
“Very much,” Tara agreed with a soft sigh, before encouraging Willow’s head up to face her with her hand, “Consolation prize?”  
  
  
Willow looked down expectantly and Tara just smiled.  
  
  
“We can shower together.”  
  
  
Willow finally cracked a wide smile at that and deposited a long kiss on her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“That’s not a consolation prize. That’s winning the lottery,” she replied as she started to back off the bed, taking both of the blonde’s hands to take her with her, “C’mon.”  
  
  
Tara slipped off the side of the bed and followed Willow, attached at the mouth, as she walked backwards out of the room. She guided them towards the bathroom without bumping into anything and kicked the door closed when they got in there, breaking hands only to turn the dial in the shower to let the water flow before they both stepped in and pulled the curtain across.  
  
  
Willow pushed her lips more forcefully against her wife’s for a few moments as the water cascaded down their back and brought both hands up to cup her cheek, softly stroking the skin under her thumb before pulling away and resting her cheek on Tara’s shoulder, a hand either side of the blonde’s hips.  
  
  
“Hi,” Tara whispered softly as she ran her hands along the wet locks falling down her wife’s back.   
  
  
“Hi,” Willow whispered back, turning her head in to press a kiss against Tara's shoulder.  
  
  
Only the sound of water hitting their bodies and the porcelain of the tub beneath them was heard for several long moments of quiet embracing until Tara spoke up again.  
  
  
“You know the last time we were in the shower together, you were telling me we could go ahead with the implantation.”  
  
  
“Oh yea,” Willow replied, nuzzling her cheek against the blonde’s shoulder, “Guess what?”  
  
  
Tara grabbed the shampoo bottle from the side and squirted some into her hands, resuming her hand motions and lathering her wife’s hair in the process.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
Willow gave a quiet chuckle.  
  
  
“I’m pregnant.”  
  
  
“You are?” Tara asked in mock-surprise, though her smile was quite genuine; she was more than happy to relive that particular moment of revelation.  
  
  
Willow raised her head with a smile and nodded.  
  
  
“You’re gonna be a mommy again.”  
  
  
Tara pressed their lips together through a grin, then she wrapped her arms around Willow’s waist and squeezed her so hard she lifted the redhead off the slippery floor. Willow squealed and reached out for the rail.  
  
  
“Careful, baby, we’ll slip.”  
  
  
Tara carefully let Willow’s feet hit the floor again and let go enough to run her hand down the redhead’s arms.  
  
  
“Have to protect that precious cargo,” she said, one hand moving over Willow’s stomach, “And my precious wife.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly for a moment before picking up the bottle of shower gel and holding it out to Tara.  
  
  
“Enough goofing,” she said in mock-seriousness, “There appears to be a complete lack of soapy hands touching me.”  
  
  
“Well we can’t have that,” Tara replied, squeezing some of the dense liquid into her hands and handing the bottle to her wife, “And would you look at that, I seem to be suffering from the same problem.”  
  
  
Willow took some of the soap in one hand and put the bottle back on the shelf, feeling Tara’s hands begin to rub the shower gel down her sides and over her buttocks. She brought her own hands up and started to wash her wife’s chest, generously applying the gel to her breasts before moving along her stomach.  
  
  
They both followed each other’s curves, letting the water clean the suds from their bodies until Willow turned around in the blonde’s arms and leant back against her.  
  
  
“Will you wash my hair again? I don’t think it rinsed out right.”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara answered, putting some more shampoo in her hands and lathering it into Willow’s long locks and lightly massaging her scalp, “Do you want conditioner?”  
  
  
“Yes, please,” Willow responded in a relaxed tone, feeling the blonde completely rinse her hair of shampoo before applying some conditioner to the ends, “Silky soft, that’s how my lady likes it.”  
  
  
“Yes she does,” Tara murmured, gathering all of the redhead’s hair behind her and running her fingers through it to make sure all the conditioner was gone, then placing a small kiss on her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
Willow gave a soft sigh and turned again.  
  
  
“My turn,” she said, reaching for the shampoo, but Tara clasped her hand before she could grab it.  
  
  
“Alice gave me some new stuff for my birthday,” she explained as she took a triangular tube that had been hiding behind the other shower things and read from the front, “Blonde Bombshell.”  
  
  
“Sounds about right,” Willow giggled as she took the tube and flicked the top open.  
  
  
Tara smiled and watched as the redhead started to turn the tube upside down to put some in her hand before suddenly stopping as the strong scent reached her nose and made her dizzy with nauseousness, dropping the tube and bringing a hand up to her mouth.  
  
  
Tara quickly threw back the shower curtain and clambered out of the shower with Willow in her arms, helping the smaller girl to the toilet just in time for her to start retching loudly. Tara just rubbed her back and quietly whispered comforting words in her ear until Willow eventually sat back, one hand covering her face while the other blindly tried to flush the toilet, feeling Tara’s hand cover hers after a moment and help her push the metal lever down.  
  
  
“Sorry,” she mumbled, still feeling the acidic burn down the back of her throat, “Way to ruin a romantic shower.”  
  
  
“You didn’t ruin anything,” Tara reassured before taking a more light-hearted tone, “I guess the baby doesn’t like that shampoo. We’ve got a strong-willed little one in there.”  
  
  
Willow cracked a small smile and took some deep breaths.  
  
  
“With a decidedly _not_ -strong stomached Momma.”  
  
  
“You don’t need a strong stomach when you have a strong heart,” Tara responded as she lovingly ran a hand down the smaller girl’s hair, “Are you okay? Can I do anything?”  
  
  
“I’m okay,” Willow answered, glancing over her shoulder, “I guess I’ll just brush my teeth and get ready.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“I’m just gonna go finish washing my hair. I won’t use that shampoo.”  
  
  
“Probably best. I don’t wanna be gagging every time you give me a hug,” Willow replied with an apologetic look, “Sorry.”  
  
  
“I told you not to be sorry,” Tara responded, giving her wife’s shoulders a squeeze, “I like the other one anyway. It’s just shampoo, honey. No big deal. Except to your stomach.”  
  
  
Willow turned on her knees and pushed their still-wet bodies against each other in a hug.  
  
  
“Thank you,” she said, offering the blonde a smile but snapping her head back when the other girl leant forward, “Tara, I just thre–”  
  
  
She was cut off as Tara pressed their lips very lightly but very warmly together for a few moments before pulling back.  
  
  
“I love you, Willow,” she said, moving her lips against the redhead’s temple for a moment before standing, “Water’s getting cold.”  
  
  
Tara had her back to Willow but she could feel the smile she was getting as she slipped behind the shower curtain again and started to wash her hair with the same shampoo the redhead had used. She got through the process a lot quicker without the distraction of having another naked body in there with her and turned the faucet off as soon as she rinsed the last of the conditioner from her locks.  
  
  
She exited the shower once again and wrapped a towel from the rack on the wall around her body and made her way over to the sink, picking up her yellow toothbrush that was sitting between JJ’s Spiderman and Willow’s wetted white with pink hearts one. She hummed no particular tune as she went about brushing her teeth until she was satisfied that they were clean and deposited her brush back in the cup before making her way back down the hall into their bedroom.  
  
  
She walked over to the dresser and took her bottle of lotion from the top, squirting some into her hands and rubbing it along her arms as she smiled over at Willow who was sitting at the vanity table in her towel, curling the ends of her hair with a curling iron.  
  
  
“Your hair dried quickly.”  
  
  
“This new blowdryer is amazing,” Willow replied keeping focused in the mirror and taping said device with her foot in indication, “I haven’t used it since I bought it. See what happens when you spend a few extra bucks? Great hair.”  
  
  
“I never argued about spending a bit extra,” Tara replied in amusement, “In fact, I think I insisted after you thought the last one was made of rubber and would bounce.”  
  
  
“It was an accident, I didn’t mean to drop it,” Willow protested, “Be nice to me or I won’t let you use it.”  
  
  
Tara laughed quietly and walked over to her wife, bending down to peer at her over her shoulder in the mirror.  
  
  
“You have to; I’m pretty sure according to New York State, it’s 50% mine.”  
  
  
Willow shot a small grin back through the mirror.  
  
  
“You sure know how to hold a grudge, you know that?”  
  
  
Tara laughed again, louder this time and grinned back.  
  
  
“Says the woman who still grumbles that I made her wait two months to see me topless.”  
  
  
“It may sound like a short time in the grand scheme of things,” Willow replied, sighing as she calmly pulled the curling iron from her hair, “But we shared a bed from our very first date. 2 months of having them pressed against me every night and not being able to touch was torture.”  
  
  
Tara playfully shook her head, enjoying teasing her wife.  
  
  
“I let you feel me up pretty soon after we started dating.”  
  
  
“Let me?” Willow scoffed indignantly, “You practically begged me. And over-the-sweater only cuts it for so long. For someone who let me go there so quickly, you really knew how to make a girl wait.”  
  
  
Tara moved her chin down to rest on the redhead’s shoulder on the opposite side of where she was curling her hair and gave a sweet smile.  
  
  
“Did it not make your 20th birthday extra special?”  
  
  
Willow blushed slightly and nodded.  
  
  
“Yea,” she agreed with a soft smile, “And made the day after my 20th birthday extra, extra special.”  
  
  
They both shared a momentary loving glance as memories of the culmination of what had been their burgeoning physical relationship flashed through their minds until Tara straightened up again adopted a light-hearted tone.  
  
  
“So, you better let me use the blowdryer or I’ll put you on restricted status again.”  
  
  
“Oh no, no, no, missy,” Willow replied with a hearty chuckle, “You put a baby in me. Which makes you my personal ice cream-getter, compliment-giver and...”  
  
  
She trailed off for a moment and winked at Tara’s reflection.  
  
  
“Sex slave for the next 8 months.”  
  
  
Willow saw her wife grin wider and shake her head good-naturedly.  
  
  
“Yes, dear,” Tara replied dryly before dropping a kiss on top of the smaller girl’s head and moving off to the side.  
  
  
She picked up the bottle of lotion again and squeezed some more into her hand, then bent her leg up to the table, resting her foot on the side as she rubbed it into her lower leg.  
  
  
Willow’s hand stalled half-way down a lock of hair as her eyes were drawn to the slender, toned calf in front of her and Tara’s long fingers working the cream into her skin. Her gaze followed the circular movements with rapt attention until she suddenly felt a flash of hot pain on her neck and yelped, dropping the curling iron onto the table with a bang.  
  
  
“Ow!”  
  
  
“What’s wrong?” Tara asked, alarmed as she dropped her leg and saw the slightly reddening mark on her wife’s skin, making a clicking noise with her tongue, “Willow.”  
  
  
“Okay, new rule,” Willow grumbled, bringing a hand up to rub her neck, “When I have something that I can burn myself with in my hand, your legs are not allowed within a 2 foot radius.”  
  
  
“Is it bad?” Tara asked, kneeling down beside the chair and taking Willow’s hand away to examine the mark, “Do you need the burn cream?”  
  
  
“No, it’s okay, it only hit me for half a second,” Willow replied, switching off the curling iron and smiling when she felt soft lips press against the mark, “Feel free to turn it into a hickey.”  
  
  
“It’d match the others,” Tara murmured in response as she stood again and walked over to the closet.  
  
  
Willow turned her head so she was regarding her profile and lifted her hair up to look at the area of her neck behind and below her ear, nodding in acknowledgement as she stretched back some more and saw the spattering of dark marks.  
  
  
“Wow, you really went for it last night, didn’t you?”  
  
  
Tara picked a yellow sweater from the closet and held it against her chest, deciding if she wanted to wear it, and grinned slightly to herself.  
  
  
“You haven’t seen the other side yet, have you?”  
  
  
Willow spun in the chair and pushed the other side of her hair away, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw quite how much of her skin was a distinctly darker colour than normal.  
  
  
“Jesus, Tara!”  
  
  
“What?” Tara asked, throwing the sweater and jeans she’d decided on wearing onto the bed and taking a matching black bra and panties set from the dresser, “It was my birthday.”  
  
  
“Yes, I remember the hot birthday sex,” Willow replied, continuing to examine her neckline, “I don’t remember you deciding you'd become a vampire and attacking my neck.”  
  
  
Tara smirked to herself as she stood over the bed and dropped the towel, pulling her bra onto her body.  
  
  
“Really? You were there.”   
  
  
Willow rolled her eyes but was smiling as pulled her hair down over the front of her shirt.  
  
  
“At least I have the hair to cover it now. No more looking like a jackass wearing a scarf indoors.”  
  
  
She inspected her look in the mirror for another moment before nodding in satisfaction and standing up. She walked over to Tara as the blonde snapped her panties into place and pulled her to her by the hips.  
  
  
She smiled sweetly for a moment before slipping her hand behind and bringing it down on her unsuspecting wife’s rear. Tara jumped in place and Willow brought her hand back, wagging it at the blode.  
  
  
“That’s for making me your chew toy,” she said sternly before grabbing the surprised blonde’s cheeks and pulling her in for a brief but passionate kiss, then moving her head back and regarding her wife with smouldering eyes, “That’s to make sure you never stop.”  
  
  
Tara brought her hands up to cover the redhead’s over her cheeks, squeezing her wife’s palm with her fingers.  
  
  
“You,” she breathed, her eyes moving down from Willow’s gaze to her lips and back up again, “Are wonderful.”  
  
  
“And don’t you forget it,” Willow grinned as moved her hands from her wife’s cheeks and bent down to pick up the blowdryer before speaking wryly, “Did you want to use our communal marital property?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Tara replied, equally droll, “But I need to get dressed first.”  
  
  
Willow pushed her bottom lip out and adopted a whiny tone.  
  
  
“You mean you’re not gonna stay in your underwear all day?”  
  
  
“Well I could,” Tara responded as she pulled a plain white tank top over her shoulders, then started to shrug her yellow sweater on, buttoning it up, “But don’t you think our nearest and dearest saw enough of me last night?  
  
  
Willow groaned and slapped her hand against her forehead.  
  
  
“It’s tomorrow.”  
  
  
“It is,” Tara replied with a sigh as she fastened her skirt around her hips before managing a smile in the redhead’s direction, “But I had a wonderful yesterday.”  
  
  
Willow smiled at that and bent over to place a kiss against her wife’s cheek.   
  
  
She felt Tara nuzzle against her lips and lingered there for several seconds before dropping to the crook of the blonde’s neck and left a small kiss there, then pulled back and put her hand on the taller girl’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze.  
  
  
“I’ll go make us some breakfast. Sunny side up and raison toast?”   
  
  
“Mmhh, yes please,” Tara replied as she sat in the chair Willow had vacated a few moments before, “You know me so well.”  
  
  
“Never say I don't please my woman,” Willow quipped and started to move towards the door, whistling, “Makin' a nice breakfast for my lady.”  
  
  
“Nice breakfast,” Tara repeated the sentiment before sighing as she picked up the blowdryer, “And then it’s time to face the music.”


	31. Chapter 31

  
“Can’t we just...send a text and tell them to send him out?”  
  
  
Tara pulled the car into park against the curb outside the large two-story, wooden-panelled house that Anya and Xander had lived at for as long as they had known them. She kept her grip on the steering wheel and shook her head.  
  
  
“Willow...”  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked, closing her eyes and clenching her teeth, “Last time we saw them, my pants were around my ankles.”  
  
  
Tara threw her fingers up from the steering wheel in exasperation.  
  
  
“And my breasts were on display for all to see.”  
  
  
“Don’t remind me,” Willow scowled, before dropping her head into her hands, “Okay, let’s get this over with.”  
  
  
She forced herself to snap the handle back on the car door to open it and stepped out onto the pavement with a deep inhalation to boost her confidence as she walked towards the large porch that Xander had built onto the house a few summers previously after building cribs for both JJ and Alex and had gotten a taste for construction.  
  
  
She had just started to poise herself when she saw Tara fall into step beside her and any conviction she had in the situation left as the blonde spoke.  
  
  
“We’re visiting your dad and Michelle on our way home.”  
  
  
Willow snapped her head around to her wife and started to whine.  
  
  
“Tara!”  
  
  
Tara kept her gaze forward and her tone clear.  
  
  
“Willow, we have to. I can clear the air with Alice tomorrow at work, who I’m sure has already warned Jesse to never mention it again and you can have a word with Buffy. I highly doubt Angel is ever going to make a remark about it, either will Brian because Becky would kill him, and she’s already caught us in much more compromising positions anyway. I don’t want it to be awkward any time we’re around your father. JJ will pick up on it.”  
  
  
“Fine,” Willow grumbled with a sigh, “For JJ.”  
  
  
She looked up then and caught a sidelong smile being shot in her direction. She felt her heart melt on the spot.  
  
  
“And for you,” she quickly amended, feeling an emotion she could only describe as ‘lovesick puppy’ as she looked at the blonde in wonder, almost tripping up the step on the porch in the process, “How do you do that? How does your smile still have that effect on me after 10 years?”  
  
  
Tara moved to stand behind the redhead as they arrived at the large blue door and pressed a finger against the doorbell as she leant her head down just slightly to whisper in her wife’s ear.  
  
  
“Magic.”  
  
  
Willow held back the shudder that threatened to go up her spine as she felt Tara put a hand on her hip from behind and braced herself as the door swung open.  
  
  
“Willow, Tara!” Anya greeted as enthusiastically as she normally would, “Hi.”  
  
  
Tara smiled in recognition and Willow offered a small wave as they walked over the threshold. Before Anya had even closed the door behind them, she had piped up again.  
  
  
“Just so you know, I forgive you for not appreciating my surprise party, even though I sacrificed an entire billable hour at work planning it. I’m happy you enjoyed your evening of orgasms,” she said brightly, reaching out to pull Willow’s hair aside and smiling over at the other blonde, “Those are good work, Tara.”  
  
  
Tara blushed and Willow swatted Anya’s hand away, self-consciously gathering her hair around her neck again. She thought about arguing the point for a second before deciding it was futile and sighing. Tara put a hand on Willow's shoulder and gave it a squeeze before forcing a smile towards Anya.  
  
  
“Thanks for the thought, Anya. It was sweet.”  
  
  
Anya smiled in satisfaction of acknowledgement of her deed but changed her attention from responding when she saw her husband come into the hallway through the kitchen, with a lack of children behind him.  
  
  
“Did you leave the boys outside alone?” she asked in disbelief, walking over and hitting the top of his arm, “They could fall off the swing or eat the sand or a paedophile could scale the wall! Xander!”  
  
  
Xander opened his mouth to speak and explain that he’d just come in to grab the boys’ mittens but Anya was already marching her way to the backdoor so he just shook his head and sighed, giving the other women a feeble smile.  
  
  
“Do you think she’d find it funny if I got the paperwork to legally change her middle name to ‘Hysteria’?”  
  
  
“No. I, however, would find it hilarious,” Willow snorted, “But her name’s hard enough to pronounce as it is.”  
  
  
Xander chuckled quietly, keeping his gaze down and a somewhat awkward silence filled the small hallway for a few moments before Willow realised where exactly south of his eyeline the man was looking, and specifically, at whom.  
  
  
“Hey!” she shouted, although not loudly, stepping in front of Tara to act as a visual-blocking-device, “You stop that right now, Alexander Harris.”  
  
  
Xander’s head shot up, bright red and he started to shake it frantically.  
  
  
“I, I, I wasn’t, there wasn’t, I, I...”  
  
  
Tara blushed all over again and self-consciously covered her chest with her arms, even though Willow was still standing right in front of her.  
  
  
“Get that image out of your head right now, Xander,” Willow continued sternly, “I’m serious, forget everything you saw last night! I can wreak havoc on your credit score, you know, it would just take a few clicks of the mouse!”  
  
  
Xander threw his hands in front of him in surrender and flustered over his words for another moment before taking a calming breath.  
  
  
“Okay, I just wanna say again that I’m very sorry what happened, did,” he said, keeping his gaze so far upward he was actually looking over their heads, “And it shall never be spoken of again.”  
  
  
He shifted over to the staircase and lightly banged his head against the banister.   
  
  
“Xander forget.”  
  
  
Both women got small smiles on their face then and Xander got a hopeful look on his face.  
  
  
“Xander forgiven?”  
  
  
“Yes, you’re forgiven,” Willow replied, walking over and embracing her friend for a moment before pulling back and wagging a finger, “But I’m serious, don’t ever mention...”  
  
  
“Mention what?” Xander asked with a winning smile and Willow grinned.  
  
  
“Exactly.”  
  
  
The three shared a smile for a moment before there was the sudden sound of footsteps thundering towards them and Alex and JJ ran up to them all, wearing jackets and hats; Alex throwing himself around his father’s leg.  
  
  
“Mommy says you need to fix the swing ‘cause it broke and JJ almost fell off.”  
  
  
“Are you okay?” Willow asked her son, dropping to her knees and checking his face for marks.  
  
  
“I’m fine, I didn’t fall,” JJ replied irately, trying to squirm out of being touched, “Stop!”  
  
  
“Hey, I’m just checking you!” Willow responded, patting down the boy’s arms as he continued to squirm.  
  
  
Anya appeared through the doorway from the kitchen again and was about to berate Xander for her fears almost coming true when she noticed Willow’s actions and spoke to her instead.  
  
  
“He didn’t fall, I caught him before the chain broke.”  
  
  
Willow looked up at the woman and smiled.  
  
  
“Thank you,” she said genuinely, before looking back at JJ and stroking some hair from his forehead tenderly, “I had to make sure my special little guy was okay.”  
  
  
“I’m _fine_ ,” JJ protested, clearly embarrassed to fussed over in front of his friend.  
  
  
Willow relented in her fretting and straightened up, but held JJ’s head to the side of her leg protectively.  
  
  
“Did you boys have a good time last night?” Tara asked, trying to alleviate her son’s discomfiture.  
  
  
“We built a fort,” Alex exclaimed with a giddy smile.  
  
  
JJ grinned at that as well and nodded excitedly.  
  
  
“And the babysitter let us eat ice-cream in there!”  
  
  
“Wow, she sounds very cool,” Tara replied to the two smiling boys, “Do you wanna go get your stuff, Jake?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and slipped out from under Willow’s arm and started to run up the stairs. Alex pushed himself off Xander’s leg less than a second later and followed.  
  
  
“Thank you for looking after him,” Tara said kindly, “We really do appreciate it.”  
  
  
“Not a problem,” Xander said with a wave of his hand and a goofy smile, “I like having some man time with the two of them.”  
  
  
“Yes, and I’m sure JJ appreciates some testosterone after living in your house of oestrogen,” Anya added.  
  
  
“Hey,” Willow started in a defensive tone, “We’re–”  
  
  
“Grateful he has such wonderful male influences in his life,” Tara cut the redhead off, shooting her a pleading look, “All of his uncles. And Ira, of course.”  
  
  
“Xander is wonderful,” Anya replied with a smile towards her husband as the boys pounded their way down the stairs.  
  
  
“Ready!” JJ announced as he jumped from the last step and landed with both feet firmly on the carpeted floor.  
  
  
“Have you got everything?” Tara questioned, “Toothbrush, jammies?”  
  
  
JJ nodded, shrugging his backpack on his shoulder. Willow patted the top of his head.  
  
  
“Okay, say thank you!”  
  
  
JJ looked up and offered Xander and Anya a toothy smile.  
  
  
“Thanks Uncle Xander, thanks Aunty Anya,” he said sweetly before turning back to Alex and holding his hand up for a high-five, “Bye Alex!”  
  
  
Alex slapped his hand against JJ’s, then turned it into wave.  
  
  
“Bye!”  
  
  
Tara waved at the other couple and moved to open the front door. JJ skidded ahead of herself and Willow onto the porch, before coming to an abrupt halt as Alex called out after him.  
  
  
“Don’t forget the grass is lava!”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes widened as he was reminded of the game of ‘Volcano Firemen’ that had taken up most of the morning. He instantly turned and tried to jump into Willow’s arms to prevent his foot touching what his imagination was projecting as molten liquid. Willow instinctively held her arms out for her son but Tara quickly intervened and caught the boy mid-jump.  
  
  
“Right,” Willow nodded in understanding, not risking any kind of heavy-lifting. She turned back towards the doorway to offer an explanation, “I, uh, threw my back out last night.”  
  
  
Anya smiled and gave her a thumbs-up sign while Xander averted his gaze. Willow’s cheeks instantly flushed.  
  
  
“No, not from that! I, I meant this morning. I, um, tried to, uh, carry a plant that was too heavy.”  
  
  
“Not from what?” JJ asked in confusion and Tara cleared her throat.  
  
  
“Well we really should be going,” she said briskly, forcing a smile towards the other couple, “Thanks again. You know Alex is welcome at ours anytime.”  
  
  
Xander nodded warmly and waved, an action copied by both Alex and Anya. JJ waved back over his mother’s shoulder as she carried him to the car. Tara put his backpack on the floor of the backseat and strapped him into his booster seat before moving back into the driver’s seat as Willow was securing her seatbelt on the passenger side.  
  
  
“Sorry for cutting you off back there,” Tara said as she pulled her own seatbelt across her body.  
  
  
“No, it’s okay,” Willow responded, rolling her eyes to herself, “You know it only takes half a second for a fight to break out between us. I just wish she’d think about what she says.”  
  
  
“Willow, it is good for him to have some boy time,” Tara replied softly, reaching over to take her wife’s hand and giving it a momentary squeeze before taking it back to start the engine, “It doesn’t take anything away from us as parents or how much he loves us.”  
  
  
Willow rested her head against the headrest behind her as Tara flicked the radio on to a music channel and pulled away from the curb and drove forwards. Willow idly watched the road ahead, taking a moment to smile over at the blonde before leaning over and placing a lingering kiss against her cheek. Tara blushed as she kept her hands firmly on the wheel and looked over at the redhead curiously.  
  
  
“What was that for?”  
  
  
Willow reached over, careful not to obstruct her wife’s hands to drive and delicately tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear.  
  
  
“For being the wisdom to my insanity.”  
  
  
Tara rolled the car to a pause as they approached the junction at the end of the road and after a quick check around to make sure there were no other cars waiting on her to move, she leaned across the car and pressed her lips warmly against Willow’s for just a few seconds before sitting back against her seat and turning onto the next street.  
  
  
“That’s for being the Willow to my everything.”  
  
  
Willow beamed and reached out to softly caress the blonde’s upper arm, before looking over her shoulder at JJ.  
  
  
“How would you like to go see Grandma and Grandpa little man?”  
  
  
“Yea!” he replied enthusiastically, kicking his legs against the seat in excitement.  
  
  
“How much ice-cream did that babysitter let you have?” Willow laughed at her son’s giddy demeanour.  
  
  
“Three scoops!” JJ replied perkily, “Chocolate, vanilla _and_ strawberry!”  
  
  
“Wow,” Willow replied, holding back a grin, “All that ice-cream, you’ll have to have extra vegetables at dinner to make up for it.”  
  
  
JJ’s smile faltered at that.  
  
  
“They were small scoops.”  
  
  
“Oh, okay,” Willow responded, keeping her teasing up, “So no extra veggies?”  
  
  
JJ shook his head insistently. Willow laughed quietly and settled back against the seat.  
  
  
“Well we’ll have to see what delights Mommy makes us for dinner.”  
  
  
“Oh Mommy’s making dinner now, is she?” Tara questioned with a quirked eyebrow, keeping her eyes on the road as they coasted down the streets of Buffalo towards Ira and Michelle’s house.  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow replied wryly, “I threw my back out, remember?”  
  
  
“Right,” Tara replied before lowering her tone a notch and grinning, “You know if you’re going to use that excuse you can be sure I’m going to work you enough that it could happen.”  
  
  
Willow appeared to momentarily choke on air as her eyes widened.  
  
  
“Tara!” she hissed, “I can’t believe you’re making with the spicy talk when our son is less than a foot away.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head to herself and chuckled.  
  
  
“And hasn’t a single clue what we’re talking about.”  
  
  
Willow looked over her shoulder at JJ who was dancing his fingers along to the tune of the song that was playing from the radio and ignoring them completely. She shifted her shoulders back in her seat and allowed a small grin to form.  
  
  
“Vixen.”  
  
  
“Oh yes,” Tara replied with a lopsided grin, “Don’t you know it.”  
  
  
“Very well,” Willow murmured and a quiet giggle passed between them for a moment until an even littler voice piped up.  
  
  
“I’m thirsty.”  
  
  
Willow lifted the arm rest between hers and Tara’s seat where they installed a mini-fridge after their first long-haul car journey with a 3-year-old JJ resulted in the interior of the car needing to be refurbished when he’d spat a warm grape-juice out in disgust, but frowned when there was only an orange in there.  
  
  
“Shoot, baby we need to refill,” she said to Tara before looking over her shoulder, “Um, we’re almost at Grandma and Grandpa’s little man, you can get a drink there.”  
  
  
“But I’m thirsty now,” JJ whined loudly from the backseat.  
  
  
“There’s a bottle of water in my purse,” Tara said, gesturing down towards Willow’s feet.  
  
  
Willow bent over and moved her own purse out of the way to reach Tara’s larger one, pulling it onto her lap and snapping the clasp open, seeing an unopened bottle of water lying next to her wife’s wallet. She took it out and twisted the cap off in her hand before handing the opened bottle into the backseat. JJ looked unimpressed.  
  
  
“I don’t want water.”  
  
  
Willow nodded, took the bottle back and shrugged.  
  
  
“Guess you can’t be that thirsty then.”  
  
  
JJ pouted for a moment before giving up and holding a hand out.  
  
  
“What’s the magic word?” Willow asked and saw JJ stick his tongue out for a second.  
  
  
“Abracadabra!”  
  
  
Willow eyed her son warily and shook her head.  
  
  
“Not what I was looking for.”  
  
  
“It’s a magic word!” JJ protested, then frowned, “Momma, I’m thirsty!”  
  
  
“Willow, please don’t dehydrate our child,” Tara commented with a momentary wry smile before sighing and looking into the backseat through the rearview mirror, “JJ, don’t sass your mother.”  
  
  
JJ seemed like he contemplated rolling his eyes before thinking better of it and adopting an apologetic front.  
  
  
“Please can I have the water?”  
  
  
“Yes you can,” Willow replied, handing the bottle back.  
  
  
JJ glugged the water gratefully for a few moments before wiping his mouth and holding the bottle out again.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
“You’re welcome,” Willow responded, screwing the cap back and dropping it back in Tara’s purse on her lap, “See how much easier things are when you’re polite?”  
  
  
“Yes,” JJ reluctantly agreed and slumped back in his booster seat, arms crossed across his chest.  
  
  
Tara watched as Willow settled into a similar pose across from her and sighed internally at the sullen looks gracing her two favorite people. She slid the car to a halt in front of a stoplight that was thankfully the last one before they turned off for Ira and Michelle’s street and pushed the button for the radio to turn it off, clapping her hands together loudly, making the other two jump in place.  
  
  
She turned her head and looked between them.  
  
  
“Come on, you two, cheer up. I don’t want to see grumpy faces.”  
  
  
JJ and Willow both gave Tara the same unimpressed look and the blonde smiled at how similar they really were. She quickly checked to make sure the light wasn’t about to change and stretched back to look at her son.  
  
  
“JJ, you had a wonderful day yesterday and this morning with Alex and enough candy to fill a piñata and we have a whole afternoon ahead of us where I’m sure we can find all kinds of fun things to do,” she said, passing a loving look to the boy before turning back in her seat and lowering her voice, focusing her eyes ahead as the light turned green but casting a second-long glance in her wife’s direction every few moments, “And _you_ should be smiling for a week after the things I did to you last night. And this morning.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and grinned wildly and Tara made a sound of triumph.  
  
  
“Smiles!” she exclaimed happily as she indicated onto the right street, “At each other, please.”  
  
  
Willow looked back at JJ and offered him a wink to go along with the grin still plastered on her face. She pressed the button on her seatbelt to open it as the car stopped outside Ira and Michelle’s picturesque white, with a black door and window panels, semi-detached home. She twisted in her seat so she could push her arm completely into the backseat and held her palm up.  
  
  
“Little five?”  
  
  
JJ hit his hand against his mother’s and smiled sweetly. Willow felt a burst of warmth in her heart and took her hand back to kiss her finger before reaching behind herself again to press them to his forehead. JJ scrunched his nose and Willow laughed, moving one finger down to tap the tip affectionately until she heard her door being opened and turned back to see Tara offering her hand.  
  
  
“Thank you,” she said as she swung her legs out of the car and let herself be pulled up.  
  
  
Tara used her spare hand to push the car door closed before moving both hands down to Willow’s waist and looking at her intently.  
  
  
“Okay, now remember; we are adults, we are married and there is no reason to be uncomfortable.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes for a moment and nodded, taking a deep inhalation of breath. When she reopened the, she was about to repeat the mantra when she caught sight of JJ pushing his face against the window and pulling faces.  
  
  
“Or we could deal with it like that,” she laughed, “Whaddya think?”  
  
  
“Certainly a novel approach,” Tara replied with a small laugh in her son’s direction, before looking back at Willow, “But seriously...”  
  
  
“We’ll talk, we’ll clear the air...” Willow responded with a definitive nod of her head, “Don’t worry, I’m with you 100%.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and started to lean in for a kiss but they were disturbed as JJ started to loudly bang on the window with his fists. One look from Willow made him drop his hands and quickly sit back in his seat, looking quite patient.  
  
  
“You’ve got the ‘mom’ look down,” Tara commented with a wry smile.  
  
  
“Hey, that’s my patented ‘momma’ look,” Willow replied in mock-seriousness before moving her hands up to Tara’s shoulders and leaning up to press their lips together for a few seconds, then pulling back and nodding, “Adults, married, not uncomfortable.”  
  
  
“Exactly,” Tara smiled before gesturing towards JJ, “We better let our son out of captivity before he tries to mark his territory.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and turned to open the backseat door. JJ shot out of the car like a rocket and went straight up the pathway to ring the doorbell of his grandparent’s house. Willow took a deep breath and slipped her hand into Tara’s between them and shot her an uncertain smile before pulling them down the same path and meeting JJ at the door, which swung open just a second later.  
  
  
“Grandma!” JJ exclaimed excitedly as he threw himself around Michelle’s leg.  
  
  
“Oh hello, JJ,” Michelle greeted warmly and reached down to ruffle his hair but didn’t quite connect as JJ scurried off further into the house. She took her hand back and awkwardly wringed it with the other as her gaze fell on the other two again, “Hi girls.”  
  
  
“Hi Michelle,” Tara replied to her aunt with a slight smile, “We just thought we’d come and...say hi.”  
  
  
Michelle stepped aside to allow them in.  
  
  
“Of course. You’re always welcome here. Come in.”  
  
  
Tara stepped forward into the house; Willow following through their conjoined hands. They lingered in the foyer as Michelle closed the door, then followed the older woman as she led them into to the living room, where JJ was sitting on his grandfather’s lap on the sofa and was looking at Ira with wide-eyed wonder as the man waved his empty palms in front of the boy.  
  
  
“Where'd it go?!?”  
  
  
Ira chuckled and reached his hand behind JJ’s ear before snapping his wrist back to reveal a quarter. JJ grabbed the quarter and inspected it thoroughly, then started bouncing on Ira’s lap in excitement.  
  
  
“Grandpa, how’d you do it, how’d you do it?”  
  
  
Ira shook his head and leaned into his grandson conspiringly.  
  
  
“Ah, Jacob, a magician never reveals his secrets.”  
  
  
JJ fell onto the seat beside Ira as he continued to hold the quarter in awe. It was only then Ira noticed the others standing around the doorway and quickly stood, shifting in his spot and coughing uncomfortably. Willow sighed as the obvious blanket of tension descended on the room and Tara gave her hand a comforting squeeze.   
  
  
Michelle looked between the girls and her partner and knew a tricky conversation needed to happen so she decided to help by giving them the room.  
  
  
“JJ, you know I was just making bread, do you want to help me knead the dough?”  
  
  
“Sure!” JJ replied enthusiastically, jumping down from the sofa and running over to Michelle as she led them out the door, “Is it banana bread?”  
  
  
The sound of their voices became less and less as they got further away until there was nothing but silence between the three adults. Ira eventually cleared his throat and gestured with his hands.  
  
  
“Sit, please.”  
  
  
Ira retook his seat on the sofa and Tara sat in the armchair next to her that was opposite him. Willow instinctively sank down onto Tara’s lap but when to jump up straight away thinking it might be a slightly too much an intimate position to be sitting in given what exactly they were there to talk about but felt the blonde’s hands on her hips keeping her firmly in place.  
  
  
More awkward silence followed for a few moments before both Willow and Ira spoke at the same time.  
  
  
“We jus–”  
  
  
“I’m–”  
  
  
Willow cleared her throat and nodded at her father.  
  
  
“Go ahead.”  
  
  
Ira shifted in his seat and clasped his hands together on his lap.  
  
  
“I just wanted to apologise for intruding last night. I do hope you can forgive me.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyebrows shot up and she glanced over at Tara, who looked equally bewildered, before regarding her father again.  
  
  
“For...forgive you?”  
  
  
Ira nodded.  
  
  
“Yes, for using the spare key to let everyone into your house and infringing on a private moment. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t quite aware of all that was going on; Anya just contacted me and asked if I had the key because she was planning the surprise. You kids are always so nice in making sure we old fogeys are included in all your get-togethers, and you normally have a gathering for Tara’s birthday anyway so I really didn’t think anything of it. But I know the key is for emergencies only and I do profusely apologise. I hope this won’t cause an issue between us.”  
  
  
Willow blinked a couple of times in surprise.  
  
  
“Um, no, no, not at all,” she reassured, before her eyes became wary, “We thought things might be uncomfortable because of...what we were doing.”  
  
  
Ira blushed lightly and cleared his throat.  
  
  
“Well, Willow, those are images I certainly don’t want in my head but having an issue with the fact that you have a healthy marriage would make me–”  
  
  
“Mom,” Willow interjected sardonically.  
  
  
“A bad father,” Ira continued, choosing to ignore his daughter’s remark and shooting her a look, “Which is something I vowed I’d never be since you let me back in your life.”  
  
  
A slow smile spread on Willow’s face and she moved off of Tara’s lap and walked over to her father, leaning down to hug him and kissing his cheek.  
  
  
“Thank you, Dad.”  
  
  
Ira reached for his daughter’s hand and gave it a squeeze before she started to walk back to Tara.  
  
  
“Maybe we can even look back on it and laugh someday.”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Willow nodded as she retook her place on Tara’s lap, “Or we can pretend it never happened and never speak of it again.”  
  
  
“An even better idea!” Ira agreed, placing his hands on his thighs, “I presume you’ve come to this arrangement with the others?”  
  
  
“Some pending, but yes, that’s the plan,” Tara spoke up, “We don’t like that, um, part of our lives shared.”  
  
  
“Yes, understandably,” Ira replied, flustered and clearing his throat for the umpteenth time, “I should make some coffee, would you like some coffee?”  
  
  
Tara mouthed ‘sorry’ at Willow who just answered with a smile and shook her head to say it was okay before standing.  
  
  
“Actually, Dad, we should go. We just popped in to make sure, you know, that we were all okay.”  
  
  
“Yes, well, all okay on my end,” Ira smiled a slightly embarrassed smile, “I’m glad you called in.”  
  
  
Willow smiled at her father as she took Tara’s hand and helped her up before all three walked into the kitchen where JJ was sitting on the floor and intently watching the clear screen of the oven as Michelle wiped the counter clear of flour.  
  
  
“Hey JJ, we’re leaving,” Willow called to her son and the boy spun around in place and pouted.  
  
  
“But Grandma made banana bread.”  
  
  
Tara walked over and scooped him up in her arms and grinned at him.  
  
  
“What if Mommy makes hot chocolate instead?”  
  
  
JJ looked down towards the rising bread he helped create and frowned. Michelle saw his uncertainty and put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
  
“I’ll drop you some banana bread over tomorrow, JJ, how does that sound?”  
  
  
JJ brightened at that and nodded.  
  
  
“Okay,” he agreed happily before blushing and moving to whisper in Tara’s ear, “Mommy, I gotta go.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied in an answering whisper, “You can do that by yourself.”  
  
  
JJ nodded and Tara put him on the floor. He scampered off straight away so the adults were alone and Michelle threw the dishcloth in her hand over her shoulder, then spoke.  
  
  
“I don’t know if Ira said, but we’re very sorry–”  
  
  
“Oh we’ve agreed to pretend it never happened,” Willow cut Michelle off with a series of nods to herself, “We know everyone’s hearts were in the right place and as far as anyone is concerned, we were fully clothed at all times.”  
  
  
Michelle looked momentarily surprised but nodded her head in acceptance and understanding.  
  
  
“Right, of course. Understood.”  
  
  
The sound of a toilet being flushed rang from the downstairs bathroom then and JJ appeared back in the kitchen, standing between Willow and Ira near the doorway.  
  
  
“So we’ll see you soon,” Tara said as she gave Michelle a brief hug before walking over to her wife and son.  
  
  
“Yes, soon,” Willow nodded as JJ ran over to Michelle and gave her a hug, “I can’t wait to have some of that famous banana bread.”  
  
  
Michelle smiled over at Willow as she embraced JJ and kissed the top of his head before the boy ran back to stand by his parents. Ira bent down to his level.  
  
  
“It was very nice to see you, Jacob,” he said warmly and moved as if he was going to shake JJ’s hand but instead used the same sleight of hand movement as earlier and snapped another quarter from behind the young boy’s ear.  
  
  
JJ’s mouth hung open in shock as he took the offering. Willow laughed and put her hand on the back of her son’s head to start leading him away.  
  
  
“Come on, before he tries to saw you in half.”  
  
  
“I haven’t perfected that one yet,” Ira joked as he slowly straightened up, a hand against his lower back for support, “These old muscles aren’t great at bending anymore.”  
  
  
“I keep telling you that you should come to my Pilates classes with me,” Michelle said as she walked over and put a hand on Ira’s upper arm to keep him steady as they all walked towards the door.  
  
  
Willow watched Ira get a terrified look on his face and snorted.  
  
  
“Oh please tell me if he does. I want pictures. Many.”  
  
  
Ira rolled his eyes.  
  
  
“Oh yes, I’m sure it would be hilarious to see your old dad doing that downward facing dog lark.”  
  
  
“That’s yoga,” all three women answered simultaneously, then laughed.  
  
  
Ira cracked a smile but tried to remain stoic.   
  
  
“There are far too many women in my life.”  
  
  
“You should be counting your blessings,” Willow retorted, “But we shall leave you in one-woman peace. Bye guys.”  
  
  
Ira opened the door to let the three out.  
  
  
“Bye. Make sure to put those quarters in your piggy bank, Jacob.”  
  
  
“I will!” JJ called back, waving with one hand as Willow held his other and walked him to the car, “Byyyeeee!”  
  
  
Ira and Michelle waved them off until everyone was settled in the car, the house door closing as the engine revved into ignition.  
  
  
“Now aren’t you glad I made us come here?” Tara asked as she started the short two block drive to their house.  
  
  
Willow laughed.  
  
  
“Yes, Tara, my perfect wife, you are a fountain of knowledge and insight,” she replied with a dramatic flourish of her hands, “I place all future decisions in your wonderfully capable hands.”  
  
  
Tara grinned slowly and tapped her fingers against the steering wheel.  
  
  
“I don’t even care that you were being sarcastic.”  
  
  
Willow laughed again silently and reached across the car to put a hand on Tara’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze.  
  
  
“I was being sarcastic, sarcastically. Like a double negative.”  
  
  
“Ohhh,” Tara replied, chuckling as she pulled into the driveway of the house they’d called home for 6 years, “So you meant what you said?”  
  
  
They opened their car doors simultaneously and exited; Willow opening the backdoor to let JJ out before a tantrum started again and grinned sweetly across the roof of the car as Tara collected JJ’s overnight bag in her hands.  
  
  
“Yes.”  
  
  
Willow grabbed their two purses from below the passenger seat and slammed the door shut as Tara appeared at her side and bumped their shoulders together playfully as they walked towards the door where JJ was already standing.  
  
  
“Well tough, I didn’t marry you to have a dictatorship.”   
  
  
Tara handed JJ’s overnight bag to him and used the keys in her hand to lock the car and open the front door. JJ didn’t need to be told to unpack his bag and ran straight for the stairs. Willow dropped their purses by the coat-rack before grabbing Tara’s hips and pushing backwards so the weight of their bodies closed the door. She grinned.  
  
  
“You’re right; we’ve got a much better system of democracy and quid pro quo of sexual favours.”   
  
  
Tara wrapped her arms around Willow’s neck and crossed her wrists at the top of her back.  
  
  
“I prefer to call it ‘gentle nudging’.”  
  
  
Willow waggled her eyebrows.  
  
  
“You can ‘gently nudge’ me later if you like.”  
  
  
Tara left one hand splayed out on the back of her wife’s neck and brought the other one down to trace her jawline.  
  
  
“Do I have to be gentle?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head and took the tip of Tara’s finger between her teeth as it started to graze her lips and let out a low moan that vibrated through her teeth and against the blonde’s finger before digging her teeth in lightly and watching Tara’s cheeks flush lightly until a quiet and inquisitive voice called up from between them.  
  
  
“Why are you biting Mommy?”  
  
  
Willow nearly jumped back in fright and retracted her mouth speedily.  
  
  
“I-I wasn’t biting,” she said quickly, pursing her lips and kissing Tara’s fingertip, “Kissing. I was kissing. Mommy hurt her finger. I-in the door.”  
  
  
“Yes,” Tara nodded in a somewhat shaky voice, lowering her hand to his level, “Will you kiss it better, too?”  
  
  
JJ shrugged and kissed his mother’s fingertip. The two women exchanged a look of relief and Willow dropped to knees so she was at her son's height.  
  
  
“Hey, I have an idea; since Mommy’s making hot chocolate, why don’t you go pick a movie and we’ll have a big family snuggle day?”  
  
  
JJ nodded excitedly at that.  
  
  
“Any movie?”  
  
  
“Any movie!” Willow confirmed enthusiastically, pushing JJ towards the living room, “We’ll be there in a minute!”   
  
  
JJ disappeared into the living room to start to riffle through DVDs and Willow straightened up with a sigh.  
  
  
“How is always so quiet when I’m potentially getting caught doing something naughty but can be heard 5 blocks away trying to make cereal at 6am on a Sunday morning?”  
  
  
Tara moved a hand up and slowly traced a straight line down the bridge of her wife’s nose.  
  
  
“Maybe because I can distract you into deafness with just my finger.”  
  
  
Willow inhaled deeply as Tara’s finger moved along her lips again.  
  
  
“Maybe because I know there isn’t a single part of me, inside or out, that that finger hasn’t touched.”  
  
  
Tara caressed the soft plumpness under her finger before her lips quirked up in a half-smile.  
  
  
“We are very dirty for an old married couple.”  
  
  
“Hey, we are not old,” Willow defended, pulling Tara to her by the hips again, “We have always been flirty and I happen to love that about us. And it’s not my fault you’re so sexy that I can’t stop with the naughty thoughts.”  
  
  
Tara moved her hand back around to meet the other on Willow’s neck.  
  
  
“When did I ever say I wanted you to stop?”  
  
  
Willow pretended to look off in thought for a moment before grinning.  
  
  
“Oh wait, you didn’t.”  
  
  
“Never,” Tara replied with playful growl before moving to splay her palms out on her wife’s cheeks and pulling her in for warm kiss, then letting the redhead’s lips go with a grin, “I like this idea of a family snuggle day.”  
  
  
“Mmhh, yes,” Willow replied happily, “You’re making hot chocolate?”  
  
  
“And...popcorn?” Tara asked and saw her wife nod eagerly, “Butter or salted?”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes darted back in forth for a moment before she jumped in place excitedly.  
  
  
“Oh, oh, make both, and then mix ‘em together and then every bite we eat will be a surprise!”  
  
  
Tara laughed and nodded.  
  
  
“As you wish, my love,” she replied with a loving smile, “You go get your body ready to be cuddled.”  
  
  
“My body is always ready to be cuddled,” Willow responded, popping another kiss on Tara’s lips before moving towards the living room, “Okay Jakey, what have we got?”  
  
  
Tara started to walk into the kitchen as she heard her wife and son talk animatedly in the other room and turned one of the rings on the cooktop on to a mid-level setting, retrieving a saucepan from the cupboard beneath, letting it heat on the stove as she got the ingredients for the hot chocolate.  
  
  
She poured a small amount of water into the pan and added cocoa powder and some sugar, stirring it all together until it formed a kind-of paste, then added enough milk for the three of them. She continued to gently stir the mixture with one hand as she added a dash of vanilla extract, then left it to heat as she retrieved two packets of microwave popcorn from the cupboard above her, taking them from the plastic packaging and placing one in the microwave, turning it on.  
  
  
It didn’t take long for the sound of popping kernels to begin to ring out as Tara dipped her finger into the saucepan to gauge the temperature and then brought it up to her mouth and sucked the tip to taste it.  
  
  
Deciding it was suitably warmed and tasted as good as ever, she gave it a final stir and moved the saucepan to a cool ring and turned off the stove before getting out two heavy black mugs and one plastic one that looked similar without being as heavy.   
  
  
The microwaved dinged to indicate the first bag of popcorn was done and Tara went over to take it out; the bag almost slipping from her fingers as an errant burst of steam burnt her fingers but managed to grab the bottom and leave it on the counter without any casualties. She put the second bag that contained the buttered popcorn in the microwave and set it to the same setting as before, then went back to preparing the hot chocolate.  
  
  
She filled the three mugs with the creamy liquid, stirring an extra spoon of sugar into one before topping each with a squirt of whipped cream from a can she took from the refrigerator and finished them off by crushing a single Oreo between her hands across all three, speckling the cream with flecks of black cookie. She washed her hands and got a tray to put everything on as the microwaved beeped again.  
  
  
She gave the bag a minute to cool down this time and got two bowls out; one large, one small and put everything on the tray before bringing the two bags of popcorn over. She followed Willow’s wishes and poured a bag in either side of the large bowl to mix them, then took a few scoopfuls and put them in the smaller bowl, before lifting the tray and carrying it all into the living room where JJ was sitting cross-legged on the floor and Willow was sprawled across the sofa as movie trailers played out on the television.  
  
  
“Popcorn!” JJ said excitedly as Tara placed the tray on the coffee table and knelt down beside it  
  
  
“Popcorn!” she confirmed and handed him the small bowl, which he took and then lunged for the hot chocolate, reaching for the closest one to him, but Tara moved his hand over, “That one’s Momma’s. Here, this one’s for you.”  
  
  
She helped him carry the plastic mug back to where he had been sitting on a cushion and he lay down on his stomach, his popcorn and hot chocolate in front of him. Tara smiled at him affectionately before lifting the mug JJ had tried to grab before and shuffled on her knees over to Willow. The redhead eyed the mug suspiciously as she took it between both hands.  
  
  
“Why is this one momma’s? What’s in it?”  
  
  
Tara smiled down at her wife.  
  
  
“All of my love and devotion.”  
  
  
Willow narrowed her eyes some more.  
  
  
“Uh huh and really?”  
  
  
Tara bent her elbow on the armrest by Willow’s head and leant her head down to rest on her palm, keeping her face straight.  
  
  
“Arsenic. I figured I’d just collect the insurance money now and be done with it.”  
  
  
Willow rolled her eyes and punched the top of her wife’s arm lightly.  
  
  
“Shall we try third time lucky without the sarcasm?”  
  
  
Tara chuckled to herself and dropped a kiss on the bridge of the redhead’s nose.  
  
  
“Extra sugar, like _always_ ,” she said, poking Willow’s shoulder as she emphasised the last word before throwing her eyes over her shoulder, “I think he had enough yesterday for the rest of the month. Now scoot up so this snuggle day can commence.”  
  
  
Willow pushed herself up into a sitting position as Tara turned around and got her own hot chocolate and the bigger bowl of popcorn for them to share. She put the bowl in Willow’s lap and sat behind her, stretching out so the redhead was lying between her legs and sighed happily.  
  
  
“What are we watching?”  
  
  
“Little Mermaid!” JJ replied excitedly, as he slurped and munched, kicking his legs behind him.  
  
  
“Oh good,” Tara replied, running her hand down Willow’s arm, “I kinda have a thing for redheads.”  
  
  
Willow cuddled back into her wife’s embrace and felt warm kiss press against the top of her head.  
  
  
“You okay?” Tara whispered in the smaller girl’s ear as the movie finally started playing on screen.  
  
  
Willow threw a piece of popcorn into her mouth as she smiled up at her wife and answered honestly.  
  
  
“Couldn’t be better.”


	32. Chapter 32

  
“I’m sooo tired.”  
  
  
Willow rolled over on the bed and buried her face in the pillow before flipping over onto her back and sighing.  
  
  
“I’m also incredibly horny,” she admitted, bending one arm under her head, while her other hand rested on her bare thigh that was just visible under the large t-shirt she was wearing as nightwear, “And I feel like I could consume the entire Cheesecake Factory menu in one sitting. Which is ridiculous because I had 2 servings of your lasagne at dinner and like 3 puddings after.”  
  
  
She moved her hand from her thigh and slapped it against the mattress in frustration.  
  
  
“I don’t even know what I’m feeling!”  
  
  
Tara hung the pants she had just taken off on the back of the chair at the vanity table and went to perch at the end of the bed in just her blouse and panties, running her hand up and down her wife’s shin comfortingly.  
  
  
“Well, I can cuddle you to sleep, I can take the rest of my clothes off or I can go make you a snack. Whichever you’d like, I’m here to serve.”  
  
  
Willow smiled to herself as she saw Tara ready to comply with whatever hormonal whim she desired and shuffled on the bed before giving a barely-noticeable grin.  
  
  
“A snack sounds good.”  
  
  
Tara went to stand straight away and Willow giggled, before reaching out and grabbing the blonde’s arm, tugging until she turned around, then sliding her hand down until their fingers entwined.   
  
  
“On second thought, I think my stomach is the less needy part of me.”  
  
  
Tara suggestively gestured down her front with one hand.  
  
  
“So you’d like these off?”  
  
  
Willow gave a single, slow nod and grinned.  
  
  
“Yes, please,” she said and released the blonde’s hand to bring her own up to Tara’s panties, snapping the waistband in place.  
  
  
Willow let her hand fall back to the bed and rest on her stomach as she watched an easy smile grace her wife’s features before her gaze dropped south as Tara began to unbutton her blouse from bottom to top, then shrugging the loosened material from her shoulders. Willow inhaled deeply in appreciation of the blonde’s half-naked form and gave a lazy smile.  
  
  
“I _love_ how your bra and panties always match.”  
  
  
“I know you do,” Tara replied, running her thumbs along the waistband of her red, lace panties, “Why do you think I make the effort?”  
  
  
Willow creased her brow a little in thought.  
  
  
“I’ve never said anything about it. Just quietly enjoyed your color-coordinated laciness.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly and shook her head to herself.  
  
  
“Do you know how many things I know about you that you’ve never said?”  
  
  
Willow quirked an eyebrow in challenge.  
  
  
“What am I thinking right now?”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and started to sway her hips from side to side.  
  
  
“You’re wondering why the hell I still have any clothes on at all.”  
  
  
Willow blushed lightly and grinned.  
  
  
“Call the X-Men; we’ve got a mind-reader in our midst.”  
  
  
“I’ll put that on my to-do list,” Tara deadpanned as she reached behind herself and pulled the hooks of her bra free, “I’ve got more immediate priorities at this moment in time.”  
  
  
She let the garment fall from her body and watched as Willow’s gaze fell straight to her bared breasts, her legs squeezing together and the hand on her stomach instinctively drifting lower. Tara forwent teasing them both any longer and dropped her panties to the floor. She moved forward towards the bed but stopped just short and waved a finger in Willow’s direction.  
  
  
“As sexy as you look in that...10-years-old, 3-sizes-too-big-for-you Boston College t-shirt...”  
  
  
Willow blushed again and pushed herself enough off the bed that she could pull the shirt over her head, leaving her naked and sprawled on the mattress. Tara visibly inhaled as she climbed onto the bed and over the redhead’s body; straddling her for a few moments as she let her eyes roam free down her wife’s torso before leaning forwards on her forearms so her face was hovering just above Willow’s.  
  
  
“There’s my girl.”  
  
  
Willow let out a shaky breath as she felt lips begin to caress the curve of her ear.  
  
  
“Here’s your girl.”  
  
  
Tara slid her hands along the redhead’s shoulder blades, moving inwards towards her neck and down to her collarbone as her lips trailed along her jawline at the same pace until she was sucking on Willow’s bottom lip. She felt the redhead’s top lip flutter against hers in response and a tongue push against her teeth a moment later. She opened her mouth in acceptance only to feel Willow’s tongue fall back into her own mouth.  
  
  
She pulled back and watched her wife’s eyes open, darkened and glassy with her lids heavy, but with more than just lust. To Tara’s confusion, she also looked slightly guilty.  
  
  
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”  
  
  
Willow appeared apologetic.  
  
  
“I was serious when I said I was exhausted. You’re gonna have to do all the...heavy lifting.”  
  
  
Tara gave her most loving and tender signature half-smile and pressed their lips together sweetly for a few long seconds.  
  
  
“Darling, all you have to do is relax...and let me love you.”  
  
  
Willow sighed contentedly as Tara began to kiss down her throat and did as commanded, relaxing completely into the mattress.  
  
  
“Okay.”  
  
  
Tara slid her hands down to just under her wife’s arms and started to rub them along Willow’s sides, down to the curve of her hip and up again as she continued to trail her kisses down from the smaller girl’s throat and to her chest.   
  
  
Her mouth covered the expanse of skin, along the bones of Willow’s clavicle and down to round her breasts, sucking lightly on the fleshy globes until the side of her lips grazed the tightening peak on top and she let her tongue flick against it.  
  
  
A low moan fell to her ears as she closed her mouth around the nipple and circled it with her tongue, feeling it continue to harden as it strained for her touch. She alternated between bathing and sucking as she felt Willow’s chest heave, gasping for deeper and deeper breaths with each passing second.  
  
  
Willow was quite sure her heart would pound right out of her chest as Tara moved to give her other nipple the same attention and basked in the sensation of excited calm that was running through her; her mind serene and her body tingling.   
  
  
She could hear her own moans ring in her ears as they reverberated against the walls but she couldn’t recall them actually leaving her mouth; all she was aware of was the feel of Tara’s hands moving down her legs, Tara’s lips caressing each piece of skin it came in contact with, Tara’s tongue swirling its way from her breasts to her abdomen, Tara’s– voice.  
  
  
“You’re getting a bump.”  
  
  
She blinked a few times and licked her lips lethargically to get some moisture back in her mouth and glanced down to see her wife stroking a single finger back and forth over the middle of her stomach.  
  
  
“Just a teeny, tiny, little one,” Tara continued, unaware that Willow was looking down at her as her finger moved over the barely-noticeable, quarter-inch high, raised, circular swelling, “No one else would notice. Unless you let other people get up close and personal with your stomach.”   
  
  
Tara finally looked up and saw Willow give a sluggish but teasing grin.  
  
  
“The doctor tomorrow?”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly and placed a kiss in the center of the ‘bump’.  
  
  
“I’ll let that slide.”  
  
  
Willow watched as Tara continued to lightly kiss her stomach for a few moments before that familiar tongue started to poke out against her skin again and she let her head rest completely on the pillow again. She felt her breath quickly fall back into an erratic pace as Tara left a trail of wet kisses along her pubic bone, circled over her hip and into her thigh.  
  
  
Tara felt Willow’s legs fall open as soon as her lips pressed against the top of her mound and moved her hands so her fingers were splayed out against the redhead’s inner thighs. She dropped her mouth just that little bit lower so that Willow’s arousal coated her lips.  
  
  
She gently sucked the wetness into her mouth and moved slowly around until her lips were giving her wife’s clit an intimate kiss. Hitched breathing and lightly twitching thighs accompanied a further flow of desire from Willow as Tara let her lips fall around the redhead’s pleasure nub and stroked her tongue back and forth over it.  
  
  
She let her tongue circle and surround the throbbing bud, alternating speeds in the way she knew her wife liked until she felt Willow’s ankles turn inwards and toes curl against the top of her buttocks. She retracted her lips with a long, deep suck and started to push herself up the redhead’s body.  
  
  
Willow wearily fluttered her eyes open in time to meet Tara’s gaze above her and had barely registered what had happened when she felt two fingers start to gently move inside her. An inaudible moan fell from her lips and she tried to reach her hand up to touch her wife’s face but her arm fell back on the bed after just a second, her whole body laden with exhaustion and the intoxication of pleasure.  
  
  
Tara sensed what Willow needed and moved to softly rest their foreheads together. Willow smiled as wide as she could manage and gave an almost imperceptible nod that she knew Tara would feel even if she didn’t see. Tara responded with smiling eyes that stayed locked with Willow’s, even as the redhead’s became glassier and struggled to stay open more and more with each second.  
  
  
Willow put every ounce of strength she had in keeping her eyes open, not able and not willing to miss a single second of Tara’s blue depths staring at her, overflowing with love and warmth. Her body lay almost completely still and Tara’s only movement was the steady momentum of her fingers as they stayed entranced with each other.   
  
  
Willow was aware of the coiling tension twisting around her abdomen and making her insides feel like molten lava; the tiny beads of sweat gathering on the sides of her brow that Tara’s forehead wasn’t covering; aware that her body was only seconds away from giving in to the fiery sensations rushing through her but she was more focused on the love pouring into her from all angles until the physical rush of pleasure burst from her core and overwhelmed her completely.  
  
  
An unrecognisable sound rose from her throat as her body stretched out in the rigidity of release and her eyes shut tight in response to the dancing lights that flashed behind her lids.   
  
  
The exhaustion she felt instantly increased tenfold as the intensity of her orgasm dissipated, replaced with a deep peacefulness as her body melded into the bed, unable to move. She forced her eyes open to see Tara staring down at her with the same adoring smile that hadn’t left her face and drowsily started to speak.  
  
  
“I...love...”  
  
  
She felt soft lips move over hers before she even managed to finish the sentiment and it was the final push into tranquillity she needed. She was asleep before Tara even pulled away.  
  
  
Tara knew Willow had fallen into slumber but kept kissing her for another few moments; Willow’s plump lips feeling like a silken heaven against hers. She eventually released her wife’s mouth and watched her peacefully sleeping features for a minute or two before very gently extracting her fingers from between Willow’s legs.  
  
  
When Willow stayed still, she sat herself up slightly and reached down, taking a moment to retrace the bump she’d felt earlier with her palm. She circled a single finger around Willow’s bellybutton until she felt the redhead shift more towards her in her sleep and took the hint that a cuddle was needed, conscious or not.  
  
  
She reached further down for the blanket laying across the end of the bed, carefully draping it across both of their bodies before turning to turn the switch on the lamp on her nightstand off, plunging the room into darkness.  
  
  
She settled then, moving to rest her head on Willow’s shoulder and placed her arm over her waist as she sighed happily into the quiet.  
  
  
“I love you, too.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Willow let out a requisite groan as the shrill beeping of the alarm clock pulled her from sleep and threw an arm out to stop the offending noise. Her hand made contact and she slapped the top until it stopped ringing, making a soft grunt in satisfaction of the silence and what had been a frown turning into a smile as she took her arm back and felt it fall around the familiar warm body curled into her side.  
  
  
She dropped her head until her nose hit against soft strands of hair and she inhaled deeply until she felt Tara start to nuzzle against her chest.  
  
  
“Good morning,” Tara’s slightly gruff but smiling voice piped up after a moment.  
  
  
“Good morning, gorgeous,” Willow answered, pressing her lips lightly against the top of her wife’s head as warm memories of the night before floated through her mind, suddenly making her frown, “Sorry I fell asleep last night.”  
  
  
“Why?” Tara asked, softly kissing the top of the redhead’s breast, “You were exhausted.”  
  
  
Willow rubbed her hand over Tara’s hip and sighed.  
  
  
“Yea but...you didn’t get your turn.”  
  
  
Tara raised her head from Willow’s chest then and regarded her with two raised eyebrows and a you-should-know-better look. Willow gave a small smile and raised one hand above in the blanket in submission.  
  
  
“I know, I know. It isn’t about turns.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head with a smile and propped herself up on her elbow.  
  
  
“Last night was wonderful. You are so very...captivating.”  
  
  
Willow’s smile stretched a little wider and she reached over to flatten Tara’s sleep-mussed hair.   
  
  
“Well I promise I’ll be more energetic tonight.”  
  
  
Tara scrunched her nose up to show she’d like that and started to lean down to meet her wife’s lips but instead found herself jumping back in fright as the alarm clock began shrilling again.  
  
  
“Willow, how many times?” she asked, holding a hand to her furiously beating heart before leaning over the redhead’s body to press the button just to the right of the one Willow had hit earlier, “Off, not snooze.”  
  
  
“When something disturbs my Tara-snuggles my main priority is to make it stop quickly,” Willow replied indignantly, “We should just move it your side.”  
  
  
Tara let out a sigh of relief as the blaring noise stopped, for good this time, and moved back to sit upright on the bed, the blanket falling around her lap as she stretched her arms above her head.  
  
  
“We tried that, remember? You still reacted first and kept slapping me in the chest.”  
  
  
“It’s first thing in the morning, I got confused,” Willow defended herself, though her greater concentration was focused on watching her wife’s back muscles ripple as she stretched, “Alarm clock going crazy and then your boobs are right there. What’s a girl to do?”  
  
  
Tara felt a fingertip start to move down the curve of her spine and looked over her shoulder, watching Willow’s eyeline fall in time with the movement of her finger until it fell off just below her buttocks and the redhead looked up to meet Tara’s gaze. She reached for Tara’s hand hanging by her side and gave it a small tug.  
  
  
“I didn’t get my smooch.”  
  
  
Tara fell back onto the bed and turned on her side, draping her body half over Willow’s and wrapping one arm around her head.  
  
  
“What’s a Willow without her morning kiss?”  
  
  
Willow adopted a dramatic tone.  
  
  
“A cold shell of a woman.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and shook her head.  
  
  
“Can’t have that.”  
  
  
Willow let out a quiet giggle but it only lasted a second as any sound from her mouth was cut off when warm lips moved over her own, cushioning her bottom lip between two plump ones.   
  
  
Willow moved her hand under Tara’s hair to the back of her neck, digging the pads of her fingers lightly into the skin there and up into her scalp. Their lips moved softly against each other; hands lightly pulling and stroking at one another’s hair until they naturally pulled apart; a warm smile on Tara’s face.  
  
  
“I love our first kiss of the day.”  
  
  
“Is it the morning breath that draws you in?” Willow asked, trying and failing to suppress a grin, “Or my chapped lips?”  
  
  
Tara playfully rolled her eyes and stroked her hand down Willow’s jaw and rubbed her thumb over her lips.  
  
  
“I feel like I’m working them into softness to be kissed for the rest of the day,” she explained as she watched her thumb trace the outline, “And there’s no better way to start the day than a Willow-kiss.”  
  
  
Willow moved her arm under her head and moved her foot under the blanket so her toes were playing with Tara’s. The ten minutes of cuddling and chat that they started every wakening with before dealing with any other responsibilities always made for an easy start to the morning and was time she relished quite greatly.  
  
  
“Today’s a day that’s definitely gonna get better,” she smiled as she dragged her toes along Tara’s foot and up to her shin, “What’s the plan?”  
  
  
“Well, our appointment is at two,” Tara answered, smiling at the ticklish sensation against the end of her leg, “Would you like to have lunch first?”  
  
  
Willow pursed her lips in thought.  
  
  
“Are you buying?”  
  
  
“If by buying you mean using money from our joint account, three-quarters of which comes from _your_ salary...” Tara replied in a joking tone, “Then yes.”  
  
  
Willow creased her brow and sighed.  
  
  
“It’s not fair that you work three times harder than I ever have to and get paid three times less.”  
  
  
“Darling, I was joking. I love my job. I’d do it for free if I hadn’t gotten used to being a two-income family,” Tara replied with a comforting smile, “So is that a yes to lunch? We could meet at that grill around the corner from me.”  
  
  
“The one on Pearl Street?” Willow asked and got an answering nod, “Yea okay, that sounds good. Then what?”  
  
  
A slow grin spread on Tara’s face.  
  
  
“Then we’re gonna see the baby.”


	33. Chapter 33

“Um, just two iced teas for now, please,” Tara requested as the waiter stood over her, having just been seated in the restaurant she had arranged to meet Willow in.  
  
  
“And a pitcher of ice water,” a recognisable voice piped up from behind as Willow bent down to place a lingering kiss against Tara’s cheek before whispering in her ear, “I’m supposed to have a full bladder.”  
  
  
Willow moved over to the chair opposite, as the waiter went to fetch their drinks, and shrugged her jacket off, letting it hang off the back of the chair and dropping her purse to the floor before sitting. She placed her hands on the table and Tara reached across to take one, giving it a squeeze in greeting.   
  
  
“Hello, my sweet.”  
  
  
“Hello, my love,” Willow answered warmly and squeezed the blonde’s hand back before picking up the menu lying across her place-setting, “I am _starving_. How was work?”  
  
  
“I was out on a home visit all morning,” Tara replied, picking up her own menu, “And by the looks of things, a wonderful little 7 month old girl is about to get a very loving family.”  
  
  
Willow smiled over her menu.  
  
  
“That’s great.”  
  
  
“It is,” Tara beamed, “Ever since JJ, it feels so much more wonderful when I can place my kids. How was your morning?”  
  
  
“Just some department catch-up. But Jesse and Xand are out on a stake-out all day so I didn’t even have to explain leaving the office,” Willow responded before placing a hand over her stomach as it let out a low growl, “I know, baby, you’re hungry, I’m working on it.”   
  
  
Tara smiled behind the laminated pages at hearing her wife talk to their baby and scanned the lines for another moment before closing the menu and setting it down.  
  
  
“What are you having?”  
  
  
“I’m thinking a Turkey Club,” Willow said, nodding to herself in decision, “I’m so hungry. Hey don’t they normally have breadsticks on the table here?”  
  
  
Tara was stopped from responding as their waiter came back carrying a circular tray and placed a glass of iced tea in front of each of them as well as a pitcher of water and a basket of breadsticks in the middle of the table, which Willow instantly reached for, taking a few and heartily munching on them.  
  
  
“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked politely, taking a notebook from a pocket in the front of the apron wrapped around his waist and a pen that was tucked behind his ear.  
  
  
Tara saw Willow’s mouth was too full to speak and ordered first.  
  
  
“I’ll have the Spinach Chicken Sandwich, please,” she said pleasantly, “But hold the mayo.”  
  
  
“No problem,” the waiter smiled before looking over to Willow, who had another breadstick in her hand but had held off on eating it, “And for you ma’am?”  
  
  
“Can I get a Turkey Club, but with extra turkey?” Willow asked before her eyes lit up in thought, “Oh and what’s your soup of the day?”  
  
  
“Uh, sure,” the waiter nodded, noting it down, “Our soup of the day is Minestrone.”  
  
  
“Awesome,” Willow replied giddily, “I’ll have a bowl of that too. Oh and can I get a side of Greek salad? With the Balsamic Vinaigrette. And can you bring extra dressing? Thanks.”  
  
  
The waiter looked slightly taken aback as the small-statured woman ordered such a large meal but quickly wrote it all down.  
  
  
“Of course,” he replied before eyeing the now half-empty basket on the table, “Would you like me to bring some more breadsticks?”  
  
  
Willow suddenly blushed and shook her head, mumbling.  
  
  
“No, I’m okay.”  
  
  
The waiter nodded and pocketed his notebook again before picking up the two menus and turning to walk towards the entrance to the kitchen. Willow looked after him for a moment before facing Tara, looking conflicted.  
  
  
“Was I being greedy?”  
  
  
“No,” Tara shook her head with a warm smile, “Not in the slightest. You’re eating for two, honey. Besides, I do like a girl with a healthy appetite.”  
  
  
Willow smiled shyly and brought the breadstick in her hand up to her mouth, gnawing on the side while Tara reached across and upturned the redhead’s water glass, pouring some in from the pitcher.  
  
  
“You better start on this water.”  
  
  
“Good idea,” Willow replied, taking the glass and gulping half of it.  
  
  
She refilled her glass as she set it back down on the table and popped the last piece of the breadstick in her mouth. Tara took a sip from her iced tea and sat back against the chair, a small grin playing on her lips.  
  
  
“What shoes did you put on this morning?”  
  
  
Willow did a small double-take and looked puzzled by the strange question.  
  
  
“Uh, black pumps,” she answered in bewilderment, “I don’t know which ones exactly, we have like 8 pairs between us. Did I take yours? We share shoes all the time; I haven’t really checked that kinda thing in years.”  
  
  
Tara laughed quietly and shook her head.  
  
  
“I have no problem sharing shoes,” she replied, thinking to herself that the slingbacks she had on had actually originally been a pair of Willow’s before lowering her voice to a low whisper, “I just wanted to make sure they were conducive to playing footsie.”  
  
  
Willow blushed as she felt a pantyhose-clad foot push the back of her shoe off her heel before rounding her ankle and sliding down her foot to wiggle against her toes.  
  
  
“You’re incapable of not playing footsie with me when we’re at a table, aren’t you?” she accused playfully, “If we’re at a table, your foot is on mine.”  
  
  
Tara just continued to grin as the side of her foot moved up and down Willow’s shin.  
  
  
“Why on earth would I resist?”  
  
  
Willow smiled and started to move her own toes against Tara’s as the blonde’s foot slid back down to her ankle.  
  
  
“This is nice,” she said after a moment, reaching over and putting her hand on top of Tara’s as a sudden idea came to her, “Having lunch together. I know my lunch schedule is completely varied depending on what the boys have me doing, but, you know, I could probably make a set time maybe once a week? You take lunch at one, right? So, I could make sure, say, every Wednesday from one to two that I take lunch out of the building. If you wanted?”  
  
  
Tara’s face lit up at that and she nodded.  
  
  
“I would _love_ that, Willow,” she replied emphatically, “I always thought it was a shame we couldn’t utilise the fact that we only work 10 minutes away from each other.”  
  
  
“Excellent,” Willow beamed, “Well I will let the guys know that I have a weekly lunch date with my lady.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and moved her elbow onto the table, resting her head on her palm.  
  
  
“And Wednesday would be perfect, that’s my paperwork day, so I’m not likely to have to cancel if I get held up away from the office.”  
  
  
“Well crime doesn’t really pick and choose when it hits,” Willow replied with a small smile, “But it’s pretty rare I get called up when someone needs me to report back right that second. They gather the information and get enough to make a case against someone.”  
  
  
“The heart-pumping lifestyle of a white collar crime agent,” Tara responded with more than a hint of sarcasm.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes glinted with mischief and she leaned forwards in her seat slightly.  
  
  
“I get enough heart-pumping action at home; I’d need to be on beta-blockers if I had it at work too.”  
  
  
Tara blushed and lowered her head, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear in an attempt to hide her red cheeks while Willow grinned in success.  
  
  
“Funny how you have no problem being naughty under the shield of tablecloth but I can still make you blush like a schoolgirl above it.”  
  
  
Tara raised her head again and cleared her throat to appear more composed.  
  
  
“You think you’re the only one who can cause blushing across a table?”  
  
  
Willow looked at her with a cocky sense of challenge and Tara grinned.  
  
  
“What if I was actually dressed as a schoolgirl?”  
  
  
Willow choked on air and Tara passed her a glass of water.  
  
  
“Here, sweetie, have some water,” she said in a mock-patronising tone and watched as Willow gulped it down, “Better?”  
  
  
Willow put her glass back on the table and took her napkin from the side plate at her setting, wiping her mouth before putting the cloth over her lap and eyeing her wife and exhaling slowly.  
  
  
“Well played, missus. Well played.”  
  
  
Tara just smiled in victory and blew a kiss into the air towards Willow just as their waiter, accompanied by another female one returned, carrying two trays. Their sandwiches were placed in front of them, then the female waitress regarded them with a smile.  
  
  
“Who’s the soup and who’s the salad?”  
  
  
Tara noticed Willow looked uncomfortable and spoke up.  
  
  
“You can just put them in the middle. We’re sharing.”  
  
  
Willow shot the blonde a grateful smile as the bowl of soup and plate of salad, with accompanying jug of dressing along the middle of the table.  
  
  
“Enjoy your meal,” their original waiter said kindly before both of them departed again.  
  
  
Willow made no move to pick up her cutlery and just stared at the spread in front of her.  
  
  
“I feel less like a pig when I’m just going back into the kitchen to get seconds. Not having it all laid out in front of me.”  
  
  
“No one’s judging you, sweetheart,” Tara replied, taking her knife and cutting her roll into 4 equal parts to make it easier to eat, “Just enjoy your lunch.”  
  
  
Willow continued to stare at the volume of food but looked more appreciative of the sandwich bulging with the extra turkey she’d requested and steam billowing from the soup, wafting the herby aroma in her direction while the vinaigrette glistened on top of the rich green leaves and sprinklings of feta cheese.  
  
  
“It does look good.”  
  
  
Tara picked up the end of her sandwich and gestured over the rest of the food with her spare hand.  
  
  
“You don’t have to finish–”  
  
  
“Oh I’ll finish,” Willow cut her wife off, moving her sandwich slightly to the side so she could pull the bowl of soup in front of her too, “Do you want some?”  
  
  
Tara chuckled silently and shook her head.  
  
  
“No, sweetie, you enjoy it.”  
  
  
Willow picked up her spoon and sank it into the soup, filling the dip in the metal with the warm liquid and bringing it up to her mouth, letting out a quiet noise of approval as the flavour burst across her tastebuds.  
  
  
“This... is yummy.”  
  
  
Tara nodded in agreement as she chewed and they ate in relative silence apart from Willow interjecting with approving comments about the food and shooting the odd bashful look as their feet continued to caress each other beneath the table.  
  
  
Tara finished her sandwich before Willow had even moved on to her salad and ordered a coffee to drink while the redhead polished off the last of her meal. Popping the last olive in her mouth, she chewed it slowly and stretched back in her seat, holding her very full but very satisfied stomach.  
  
  
“I think I need a tummy rub.”  
  
  
Tara glanced down at her watch.  
  
  
“Well we need to go soon to get to the appointment on time. If we leave now, I could give you a quick one in the car.”  
  
  
“A quickie in the car?” Willow replied with a mock-pout, “Is that all I mean to you?”  
  
  
“Well it’s that or get kicked out of the restaurant for indecent exposure,” Tara replied with a wry grin, “It might be nice to be able to come back here now we’ve got a weekly lunch date.”  
  
  
“Well I guess you’ve got a point,” Willow agreed with her own smile, “I am definitely going to want more of that soup.”  
  
  
Their waiter returned then and started gathering their dishes.  
  
  
“Was everything okay for you today?”  
  
  
“Yes, it was delicious,” Tara responded with a smile, “Can we get the cheque, please?”  
  
  
“No problem,” he replied as he expertly balanced the dishes on his arms, “I’ll be right back.”  
  
  
He departed with his hands full but returned after just a minute, placing a sliver dish with a rectangular piece of paper on the table, then moving off to wait the table across from them. Tara picked up and scanned the receipt before reaching down to retrieve her wallet from her purse.  
  
  
“Willow, what’s 18% on $32?”  
  
  
“$5.76,” Willow answered without much need for thought.  
  
  
Tara picked out two $20 notes and left them with the receipt before returning her wallet to her purse.  
  
  
“Shall we?”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Willow nodded, standing and putting her jacket back on, buttoning the large buttons up the front to protect her from the strong early-January winds that were blustering outside and throwing her purse over her shoulder.  
  
  
She slipped her hand into Tara’s as they started to walk towards the exit and out onto the street.  
  
  
“Which car?”  
  
  
“Well if we take the Dodge I can just drop you back at work after and then go collect JJ,” Tara replied, turning left to walk back towards her office building and taking Willow with her, “I already clocked out of work.”  
  
  
Willow looked over at her wife as they walked though the people littering the streets, most in business wear and on their lunch-break.  
  
  
“Nobody asked why?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“I’m normally only there for a little while after lunch anyway. I told my boss I needed the extra time off last week for an appointment, she didn’t have a problem.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in acceptance of the answer and started to casually swing their hands between them as they crossed the street at the crosswalk that lead right to the front of the large building where Tara worked, the child protection offices only one of many corporations that operated from there.  
  
  
Tara led them straight over to a row of elevators and pressed the button for the one they were standing in front. A ‘ding’ sound rang out and the doors opened, two men and one woman walking briskly out, leaving the small space empty. The two stepped in and Tara ran her security pass over a small sensor under the number buttons until it flashed green, then pressed ‘0’ to bring them to the underground carpark.  
  
  
“Your elevators are nicer than ours,” Willow commented as she looked around the marble-like surroundings and recognised the tune of a recent hit song playing from the speakers, “And no musak. It’s nice.”  
  
  
Tara looked at the redhead curiously. Willow noticed the look.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
“Nothing, nothing,” Tara replied with a small grin, “I just...are we really having a conversation about elevators?”  
  
  
Willow scowled almost indignantly.  
  
  
“I was just observing.”  
  
  
Tara dropped Willow’s hand and wrapped her now-free arm around her wife’s waist, giving her hip a squeeze and leaning down to press her lips just to the side of the redhead’s eyebrow.  
  
  
“And I love your observations.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly and moved her head to rest against Tara’s shoulder. The elevator doors opened to a dark, vast expanse of cars and Tara walked them out, leading them across the carpark to where she’d parked the car that morning.   
  
  
When they got there, she unlocked the car with a click of a button hanging from her keys and headed for the driver’s seat while Willow hung back by the backseat and frowned.  
  
  
“Hey, what about my tummy rub?”  
  
  
Tara looked back from where her hand was on the door handle.  
  
  
“You were serious?”  
  
  
“No one’s around. Just a quick cuddle?” Willow asked with a slight shrug before looking at Tara apprehensively, “I’m nervous.”  
  
  
Tara smiled in understanding and nodded, reversing herself and opening the backdoor, sliding into the seat and closing the door again as Willow did the same on the other side. When they were securely inside the vehicle, she pulled the redhead to her and held her with one hand against her stomach under her jacket while the other moved to stroke her hair.   
  
  
“You have nothing to be nervous about. This is exciting.”  
  
  
Willow relaxed instinctively into Tara’s embrace but her voice still held a tinge of anxiety in her voice as she spoke.  
  
  
“What if something’s wrong?”  
  
  
Tara kissed her wife’s temple and shook her head.  
  
  
“Nothing’s wrong.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes against Tara’s chest.  
  
  
“But what if there is?”  
  
  
Tara inhaled deeply and stroked her fingers along Willow’s arm until she reached her hand and entwined them together.  
  
  
“Then we will know and we will take care of our little girl or guy.”  
  
  
Tara moved her hand back to Willow’s stomach and rubbed it lightly.  
  
  
“But we’ve got a strong one in there. So don’t you worry unless we have reason to.”  
  
  
“Tara, we’re moms,” Willow replied, raising her head to look at her wife, her tone both truthful and joking “Worrying is as natural as breathing.”  
  
  
Tara just smiled.  
  
  
“Well we’re doing pretty good with the first one.”  
  
  
Willow smiled widely.  
  
  
“Can’t argue that,” she replied and felt her heart flutter with a different sensation to the nerves that had been plaguing her before, “Ready to see the baby?”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes shone with excitement and she nodded.  
  
  
“Oh yes.”


	34. Chapter 34

  
  
“Okay, now I’m really excited,” Willow whispered to Tara as they sat in the waiting room of the clinic, “We’re gonna see the baby! Move and, and wiggle and...be alive.”  
  
  
Tara smiled excitedly and nodded.  
  
  
“I know.”  
  
  
Willow tapped her feet impatiently and looked down at her watch.  
  
  
“It’s already 2:05. Our appointment was for 2. Where’s the doctor?”  
  
  
Tara took one of Willow’s hands between hers to stop it from fidgeting and looked at her reassuringly.  
  
  
“I’m sure she will call us as soon as she’s ready.”  
  
  
Willow leant her head back against the wall and sighed but didn’t say anything else as she tried to convey some semblance of patience. Her foot continued to tap but her hand lay still between Tara’s until a familiar, cheery voice called from the side.  
  
  
“Willow and Tara Rosenberg-Maclay.”  
  
  
Willow was up like a shot and pulled Tara with her, rushing past the doctor with a smile and going into the exam room, going straight over to the exam table that was set up in the corner of the room as always.  
  
  
“Just a second, Willow,” Dr. Wells spoke up as she closed the door behind them, “We have a couple of things to do before you get up there.”  
  
  
Willow let out an obviously disappointed and slightly dramatized sigh and the doctor looked at her sympathetically.  
  
  
“I know you’re probably eager for the ultrasound. I promise I’ll be as quick as possible.”  
  
  
Tara pulled Willow over to the pair of seats sitting opposite the desk the doctor was moving behind and sat down, seeing Willow do the same beside her. The doctor sat down in her own chair and tucked the seat further into the desk before clasping her hands together on top of her desk, regarding them with a wide smile.  
  
  
“Congratulations. I haven’t seen you since we drew the blood work to confirm pregnancy.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow beamed, swinging her legs under her chair excitedly, “We’re very, _very_ happy.”  
  
  
“I would imagine so,” Dr. Wells replied warmly, “And how are you feeling?”  
  
  
“Wonderful!” Willow responded heartily and saw both Tara and the doctor give her a look, so added meekly, “Nauseous, tired, and extremely irritable.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells gave an understanding smile and opened a file that Willow saw her name scrawled across, producing a pen and beginning to scribble.  
  
  
“Getting sick?”  
  
  
Willow nodded.  
  
  
“Every morning. But just the morning,” she answered, before a crease of worry appeared on her forehead, “Is that bad? Should I be getting it more?”  
  
  
“No, no,” Dr. Wells reassured as she wrote, “On the contrary, you’re quite lucky it only comes once a day. But I know you probably don’t feel that way.”  
  
  
Willow just smiled and looked down at her belly before giving a shrug.  
  
  
“Worth it.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled softly as she continued to write.  
  
  
“Any other symptoms apart from the morning sickness and irritability?”  
  
  
“Well, it’s not just irritated. Happy, sad, angry, pissed off, hor–” Willow cut herself off by clearing her throat as she realised what she was about to say, embarrassed despite herself, “I kinda switch emotions about 50 times a day.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells raised her head and smiled kindly.  
  
  
“I’m gonna prescribe you some more Vitamin B6 to take each day. That should help with mood swings and nausea. Also getting some regular, gentle exercise and keeping relaxed should help,” she said, drumming the side of the pen against the paper, “Anything else you’ve been feeling that you didn’t before?”  
  
  
Willow looked down at her feet.  
  
  
“Swollen ankles. Nothing big. I’m just not wearing my tighter shoes.”  
  
  
“All par for the course, I’m afraid,” Dr. Wells answered as she wrote it down, “If those or anything else starts to feel excessive in any way, please let me know.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement and Dr. Wells smiled at her before turning to Tara.  
  
  
“And how are you coping?”  
  
  
“She’s been an angel,” Willow answered before Tara could, looking at the blonde adoringly, “Even when I’m being a–”  
  
  
Tara shot Willow a look to stop her from using the word she was about to and the redhead amended the end of her sentence.   
  
  
“Hormonal mess.”  
  
  
Tara gave a soft smile and looked towards the doctor.  
  
  
“I just...try to make her feel better.”  
  
  
“You do,” Willow whispered softly.  
  
  
Dr. Wells pretended to write something down as the couple shared a loving look and let them have their moment before speaking again.  
  
  
“The regular exercise and keeping as relaxed as possible goes for you too. The calmer you both are, the calmer the pregnancy will be. I know it can be incredibly frustrating for the partner during pregnancy but just focus on the little bundle that will be in your arms by the end of it.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“Trust me, that has all my focus.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells offered a look of satisfaction.  
  
  
“Good. Is there anything else either of you are feeling that you want to share? Especially you, Willow, not that I want you to be worrying about every twinge you have, but do let me know if you feel something’s off. I’ve often found a mother’s instinct is the biggest indicator of something wrong.”   
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“I can’t think of anything else,” she responded and Tara nodded in agreement.  
  
  
“Okay, then,” Dr. Wells replied, standing up, “Well if I can get you to get into the exam gown on the table, I can start the physical exams. I’ll just give you a moment.”  
  
  
She left the room as Willow walked over the exam table, spotting the gown that was sitting ready on the end and quietly disrobing before pulling the thin plastic over her arms, feeling the ends hit against her knees. She tried to reach behind herself to tie the strings but found herself struggling to get her fingers around the threads so looked over her shoulder towards Tara, who was peering at a poster on the wall depicting the size of a foetus throughout the weeks of pregnancy.  
  
  
“Little help?”  
  
  
Tara pulled her attention away from the poster and started to move towards Willow.  
  
  
“Of course.”  
  
  
She tied the top set of strings securely around her wife’s neck, then moved her hands down to the pair hanging by her waist. Willow looked over at the blonde with a grin.  
  
  
“Does my butt look big in this?”  
  
  
Tara laughed.  
  
  
“Your butt looks naked,” she replied, slipping a hand under the fabric and giving the redhead’s cheek a quick squeeze.  
  
  
“Hey!” Willow squealed, jumping in place, before giving her wife a warning look, “Don’t tempt me Tara, happy to horny in 0.5 seconds, remember? I’m in no state to resist and I really don’t want us kicked out of the doctor’s office. We have a baby to see.”   
  
  
Tara just smiled and removed her hand, tightly pulling the strings together so Willow was modestly covered.  
  
  
“I always feel itchy in these things,” Willow said as she used her arms to push herself onto the end of the table and sit on it, one hand moving to drag her nails along her thigh, “Just...scratchy.“  
  
  
“Maybe ‘cause you’re a little nervous when you’re in them?” Tara asked, putting a hand on her wife’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.  
  
  
“Yea, probably,” Willow replied, moving her hand on top of Tara’s and moving it a little inwards, “Can you massage my neck?”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara murmured, sliding her hands inwards along Willow’s shoulder blades and digging her thumbs into the back of her neck.  
  
  
Willow gave a moan of appreciation and lolled her neck forward to stretch the muscles being kneaded until she heard a quick knock and looked up to see the doctor walking back through the door. She felt Tara’s hands slip away and saw Dr. Wells start to move back.  
  
  
“I’m sorry, do you need another moment?”  
  
  
“No, no,” Willow replied with a light flush, “Just a sore neck.”  
  
  
The doctor shut the door behind her and made strides towards Willow, gently taking her neck and moving it from side to side.  
  
  
“Is it stiff?”  
  
  
Willow swallowed a few times as her head was pointed towards the ceiling.  
  
  
“Uh, no.”  
  
  
The doctor felt around for another few moments before dropping her hands and giving a satisfied smile.  
  
  
“Nothing to worry about. Your body’s getting ready to have a baby; it’s stretching and moving already. You’ll have quite a few aches,” she said sympathetically before giving a slight grin and looking at over at Tara, “But hopefully manageable if you have your own personal masseuse at hand.”   
  
  
“You hear that?” Willow said, looking over her shoulder, “You have to massage me. Doctor’s orders.”  
  
  
“Yes, dear,” Tara replied drolly.  
  
  
Dr. Wells moved over to a balance scale against the wall and started tinkering with it.  
  
  
“Willow, can I get you to step on this?”  
  
  
Willow slid off the table until her feet hit the floor and walked over to step on the scales. She self-consciously watched as the doctor slid the weight across the beam until it balanced.  
  
  
“Is that healthy?” she asked and the doctor nodded as she spun in place to take Willow’s file from her desk and note it.  
  
  
“Perfectly,” Dr. Wells replied as she left the file back and picked up a measuring tape that was sitting at the top of her desk, “I’m just gonna measure around your stomach area, okay?”  
  
  
“Um, yea,” Willow replied and tried to fight the natural urge to suck in her breath while the doctor took a few measurements around her stomach.  
  
  
When she was finished noting those results as well, Willow looked at her expectantly and got a nod in return.  
  
  
“Also, healthy.”  
  
  
Willow smiled in relief and let the doctor guide her back onto the table and secure the blood pressure cuff around her arm, letting it squeeze her and watching as the result was noted on the paper again.  
  
  
“What happens if there’s like a flood? Or a fire?” Willow asked, looking at her file lying on the table, “And all that information is lost?”  
  
  
“I note it all in the computer when you leave,” Dr. Wells smiled, “Which is sent to an external server at the hospital as well as kept in our own records, so your information will always be available if there’s an emergency.”  
  
  
Willow nodded along as the doctor spoke.  
  
  
“Good. Great.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells grabbed onto the ends of her stethoscope.  
  
  
“I need to do a quick breast exam.”  
  
  
“Oh. Okay,” Willow replied, tugging at the sides of the collar of the gown, “Do you need me too...?”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded.  
  
  
“If you wouldn’t mind.”  
  
  
Willow tugged at the back of the strings around her neck and slowly pulled the gown down to her waist, swallowing her embarrassment and exhaling slowly as the doctor began to palpate around her breasts.   
  
  
“Are they tender?”  
  
  
“No, not really,” Willow shook her head, “They’re bigger. Maybe a little more sensitive.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded and continued her exam.  
  
  
“Just be gentle around them, they may get more sore over the next little while.”  
  
Willow nodded in understanding and then looked away from the examination happening to try and feel more comfortable and noticed Tara was also averting her gaze, which caused her to let out a quiet giggle.  
  
  
“You’ve seen them before.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells looked up momentarily but quickly returned to the task at hand when she realised it wasn’t her being addressed. Tara blushed but smiled in her wife’s direction before the doctor spoke again.  
  
  
“Willow, could you lift your arms over your head?”  
  
  
Willow bent her elbows out and put her hands on top of each other on top of her head. She took a brief glance down and suddenly noticed a hardness in her nipples she hadn’t even felt happening. She quickly turned towards her wife.  
  
  
“Tara,” she whispered hurriedly, pleading with her eyes for the blonde to lean down.  
  
  
Tara understood and leant down so her ear was against Willow’s mouth and heard an almost inaudible whisper.  
  
  
“It’s just the cold.”  
  
  
She was confused for a moment before her leaning position allowed her to see what Willow had just seen as well and moved so that it was her mouth against Willow’s ear.  
  
  
“I didn’t think anything else.”  
  
  
She pulled back and smiled in reassurance. Willow looked both relieved and embarrassed at her thought as the doctor spoke again.  
  
  
“And your hands on your hips.”  
  
  
Willow complied as the doctor asked her to press her palms into her hips and then lay down as she was instructed, counting the ceiling tiles as her breasts were palmed for another few moments until she felt the gown being pulled up across her chest again and gratefully slipped her arms back inside.  
  
  
“Okay, that’s done. All looking well. I’m sorry, I know it’s uncomfortable,” Dr. Wells apologised before looking even more regretful, “I’m afraid the next part is even more uncomfortable.”  
  
  
“Right,” Willow nodded, tapping her hands against her knees as she felt the strings being tied around her neck again by Tara, “I know the drill. Ankles up, legs apart.”  
  
  
“Well not how I’d put it clinically,” Dr. Wells replied with a small laugh in her voice, “But yes, I need to perform a pelvic exam.”  
  
  
She turned away to retrieve a pair of gloves and Willow tried to settle comfortably against the table, turning to see her wife grinning from where she was standing by her head, though with the table’s elevation their faces weren’t too far apart.  
  
  
“Ankles up, legs apart, huh?” Tara whispered, keeping a straight face, “I’m normally the one saying that to you.”  
  
  
“Say it later,” Willow whispered back, stretching her neck up to pop a quick kiss in her wife’s direction and throwing her a wink, “You might just get lucky.”  
  
  
Tara quirked one side of her lips upwards as the doctor placed a folded-up blanket across Willow’s midsection and draped it down to her knees, then took a small stool from under the top of the table and sat on it between her legs with a tray of medical instruments lying near her.  
  
  
She guided Willow’s feet into the stirrups and made sure the blanket covered her before reaching to her tray of instruments.  
  
  
“Okay, Willow, I’m going to insert the speculum. Let me know if you feel any pain.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow called down and unclenched her hands by her sides as she turned her head to Tara, “I hate this, distract me.”  
  
  
Tara carefully leant her elbow against the top of the table and moved her head against her palm just a few inches above Willow’s face.  
  
  
“What...would you like for dinner?”   
  
  
Willow smiled and shook her head, ignoring the cold metal and uncomfortable ache in her groin.  
  
  
“As long as there’s lots of it I don’t care.”  
  
  
“I’ll make sure of it,” Tara smiled, “I’ll collect JJ and help him with his homework and then I will cook up a storm just for you.”  
  
  
“I’ll do his homework with him,” Willow replied, then smiled widely, “I get all excited when he gets his math right.”  
  
  
Tara nodded slowly and cleared her throat.  
  
  
“Okay, but leave his reading to me.”  
  
  
“How come?” Willow asked in curiosity, “Is that a special Mommy-JJ thing I don’t know about?”  
  
  
“No,” Tara shook her head, “You can take the next book if you’d like. I just think I should take this one.”  
  
  
Willow’s brow creased.  
  
  
“Why? What’s the book?”  
  
  
Tara inhaled deeply and swallowed audibly.  
  
  
“Tara?” Willow continued, seeing her wife was obviously hiding something, “What book is it?”  
  
  
Tara exhaled a slow breath before gritting her teeth and sighing.  
  
  
“Froggy Learns to Swim.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes went wide in alarm and it took every ounce of willpower to keep her body still. She felt Tara’s hand move down to entwine their fingers together.  
  
  
“Willow, calm down.”  
  
  
Willow opened and closed her mouth before finally finding words.  
  
  
“They’re, you’re, letting our 5 year old son read horror stories and you want me to calm down?!” she hissed.  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes, remembering the exact reason she’d neglected to tell her wife the name of their son’s most recent reading assignment when she’d spotted it and rubbed her temple before opening her eyes in comfort.  
  
  
“It's a children’s book. I have read it cover to cover. I promise there’s nothing frightening.”  
  
  
Willow gave Tara a look that told her she didn’t think that was possible.  
  
  
“It’s a frog.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her hand from her face and wiped some hair from Willow’s brow.  
  
  
“I know. And I know they scare you. But we can’t warn him away from liking something or having an experience just because we’re scared,” she replied before adding with a slight grin, “And honey...it’s just a book.”  
  
  
Willow went to speak but the doctor got there first.  
  
  
“Willow could you exhale slowly and try to relax your muscles for me, you’ve tensed up. The speculum isn’t hurting you, is it?”  
  
  
“No, no,” Willow replied and cleared her throat as she loosened her muscles, “Sorry.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife’s hand a squeeze and looked apologetic.  
  
  
“I’m a bad distracter.”  
  
  
Willow kept her head still but cast her eyes in Tara’s direction and gave her a small smile.  
  
  
“And I’m an over-reactor,” she replied, running her thumb over the back of Tara’s hand “What does that make us together?”  
  
  
Tara pretended to contemplate the question for a moment before smiling.  
  
  
“Happy.”  
  
  
“Sounds about right,” Willow replied, then sighed in relief when she felt the speculum removed from inside her.  
  
  
“Over?” Tara whispered when she saw her wife unwind.  
  
  
Willow nodded gratefully and closed her legs as the doctor moved from between her legs and brought her instruments over to be sterilised. Tara lightly massaged Willow’s scalp as the redhead adjusted herself back onto the table and called over to Dr. Wells as a thought crossed her mind.  
  
  
“You said earlier, about the records being sent to the hospital as well. Which hospital?”  
  
  
Dr. Wells started walking into another corner of the room but looked over her shoulder to address Tara.  
  
  
“Well our clinic is affiliated with Buffalo General, but I can do all your prenatal care from here so you won’t have to worry about that until it’s actually time to deliver.”   
  
  
Willow’s face fell for a moment when she heard that but she didn’t really even process the thought as she noticed the doctor pulling the ultrasound machine towards them.  
  
  
“Oh my god, oh my god,” she gushed, her heart starting to pound in her chest with excitement, “Tara...”  
  
  
“I know,” Tara smiled, squeezing Willow’s hand again, “Breathe, darling.”  
  
  
“Yes, breathing is recommended,” Dr. Wells commented with a small smile as she brought the machine alongside the table, “Can you lift your gown above your stomach, Willow?”  
  
  
Willow kept the blanket secure around her hips and pulled the gown up from beneath it, folding it over her chest. The doctor pushed the blanket down just a tad in the middle so Willow’s pubic bone was exposed and squirted some of the saline gel onto Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“Just a warning, Willow, I’m going to try to use the abdominal ultrasound, but you’re still so early in your pregnancy that I may have to do a transvaginal one instead.”  
  
  
Willow nodded eagerly.  
  
  
“I don’t care how you do it; I just wanna see the baby.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled and flipped a switch on the machine, then unwind the transducer probe and pressed it in the middle of the jelly on Willow’s stomach, spreading it around a little.  
  
  
“Is your bladder full?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow answered with a small squirm, “Very.”  
  
  
“I’ll get to give me a sample as soon as we’re finished here so you won’t have to hold it too long,” Dr. Wells replied, moving the transducer to where she needed it to be, “Okay, here we go.”  
  
  
Both Willow and Tara waited with bated breath as the doctor moved the probe around and talked them through what they were seeing and the different things she was checking until a clear picture of a curved space of blackness appeared on the screen, a small blob deposited right in the center.  
  
  
“And there...is your baby.”  
  
  
There was a stunned silence from the couple for a few moments before Willow started laughing joyously and reached out to touch the screen.  
  
  
“Hi! Hi, baby!” she said, emotion streaming from her voice, “Tara, look! We have a, a...kidney bean!”  
  
  
Tara laughed, her smile impossibly wide on her face.  
  
  
“Hi, little bean,” she said softly, “Mommy’s here.”  
  
  
“So’s Momma,” Willow added as she traced the image on screen with a finger.  
  
  
Some coloured lines reached across the foetus as the doctor took some measurements, then started pointing to things on screen.  
  
  
“See these little buds? That’s the arms and legs starting to grow,” she said, seeing both women’s smiles stretch to the point that it must have hurt, “And that little fluttering right there? That’s the heartbeat.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes shone with unshed tears as she watched the tiny flutter over and over again until she heard her wife’s voice.  
  
  
“Can we hear it?”  
  
  
Dr. Wells peered at the screen and looked contemplative.  
  
  
“I can try. It’s very early and unlikely we can pick up on it for another few weeks, so there’s nothing to worry about if we can’t hear it, okay?”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow answered but her tone was still tinged with hope, “But we can try?”  
  
  
The doctor reached over to press a button on the ultrasound machine. A humming noise not unlike rushing water filled the room as the doctor moved the probe some more around Willow’s stomach until a distinct and speedy _lub-dub_ sound reverberated against the walls.  
  
  
“Well, we’re very lucky,” Dr. Wells smiled, “Strong enough for us to hear.”  
  
  
Tara gasped and wrapped the hand not holding Willow’s tightly around the metal bar of the examination table, her knuckles going white. Willow didn’t dare breathe in case it somehow disturbed the perfect thumping sound echoing around them. She felt her own heartbeat start to drum in the same rhythm and an overflow of emotion started to pour from her heart, only compounded when she looked up and saw tears stream down Tara’s cheeks.  
  
  
“Don’t cry,” she said, her voice starting to break, “If you cry, I’m gonna cry.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells recognised when a couple needed a minute to themselves from the hundreds of patients she had helped conceive and discreetly reached over to pause the screen so the image of the baby would stay on it.  
  
  
“Tara? Would you like to hold it?” she asked and held it in place as Tara’s shaky hands rounded the device, then stood up, “I’ll give you both a moment.”  
  
  
The couple barely registered the doctor leaving; Willow letting the few errant tears escaped her ducts and Tara making sure she kept the probe steady as she leaned down and pressed her lips against her wife’s forehead.  
  
  
“We, we need this on a CD or something, it’s the perfect sound, it’s perfect,” Willow said, her words jumbling together in exhilaration, “I could mix it with a file of JJ laughing if I just got a recording device and then we could listen to both our...our babies...”  
  
  
She trailed off and looked at the screen in awe.  
  
  
“Look at what we did.”  
  
  
Tara inhaled deeply and reached out with her spare hand to tap a finger against what was the bowed arc of their baby’s head.  
  
  
“We made a little miracle.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Wow.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and ran a hand down her still-tingling naked body as she lay on her back alongside her wife in the same position, chest heaving and a look of amazement on her face.  
  
  
“Told you I’d be more energetic.”  
  
  
“That...” Tara replied, swallowing to get some moisture in her mouth, “That was... definitely energetic.”  
  
  
Willow stretched her toes out and wiggled them.  
  
  
“Did you like the thing I did with my–”  
  
  
“Yes.”  
  
  
Willow turned her head on the pillow towards Tara, whose eyes were closed.  
  
  
“You don’t know what I was going to say.”  
  
  
Tara just shook her head.  
  
  
“Doesn’t matter. It was all incredible.”  
  
  
Willow gave a smug smile and let her eyes close to enjoy the warmth and satisfaction coursing through until she felt a shift in the bed and opened her eyes to see Tara had moved onto her side next to her.  
  
  
“Don’t go asleep yet.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow grinned, not having planned on sleeping right that second anyway, “You wanna go again?”  
  
  
“I don’t know if my body’s physically capable of going again,” Tara laughed and started twirling a single finger in an ‘S’ shape down Willow’s chest, stopping when she got to her stomach and placing her palm flat on it, “I want to sing to the baby.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes widened a little in surprise.  
  
  
“Oh.”  
  
  
Tara smiled shyly.  
  
  
“I want him or her to know my voice.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and covered Tara’s hand on her belly with her own.  
  
  
“That’s a great idea. You should definitely do that.”  
  
  
Tara beamed and looked down.  
  
  
“Can I start now?”  
  
  
Willow nodded.  
  
  
“You don’t have to ask. My tummy is your captive audience at any time.”  
  
  
Tara leaned down and pressed their lips together for a few lingering moments before pulling away and shuffling down the bed until her head was resting just above Willow’s stomach. She traced her index finger around the curve of the bump and spoke quietly.   
  
  
“Hi, little bean. It’s Mommy. I’m gonna sing to you for a bit, okay? You’re too tiny to let me know if you don’t like it, but your brother always liked this one so I hope you do too.”  
  
  
She started humming softly, getting the right tune in her head for the song she wanted to sing, [’Baby Mine’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzoZnivlLhw) by Allison Krause before eventually opening her mouth to sing.  
  
  
 _Baby mine, don't you cry,  
Baby mine, dry your eyes,  
Rest your head close to my heart,  
Never to part, baby of mine._  
  
  
She closed her eyes and imagined she was singing to the baby in her arms.  
  
  
 _Little one, when you play,  
Don't you mind what they say,  
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,  
Never a tear, baby of mine._  
  
  
She continued to caress Willow’s stomach as she sang.  
  
  
 _If they knew sweet little you,  
They'd end up loving you too,  
Oh those same people who scold you,  
What they'd give just for the right.  
To hold you._  
  
  
She hummed a little more and repeated a few more lines before starting on the last verse.  
  
  
 _From your head down to your toes,  
You're not much, goodness knows._  
  
  
She couldn’t help the large smile as she remembered the small image on screen, the printout of which was securely in her nightstand whenever either of them wanted a look.  
  
  
 _But you're so precious to me,  
Sweet as can be, baby of mine._  
  
  
She kissed right above Willow’s bellybutton.  
  
  
 _Sweet as can be,  
Baby of mine._  
  
  
She trailed off and started placing more kisses along Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“I love you, little bean,” she whispered before her attention was turned upwards when she heard sniffling and saw her wife wiping at her eyes. She quickly moved back up her body and held her close around the waist, “Oh, Willow, don’t cry. We both did that enough earlier.”  
  
  
“I’m sorry,” Willow hiccupped, “It’s just...when you sing...and [Dumbo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oSdgIDyl6Q)...and our baby...and little bean!”  
  
  
Tara made some soothing noises in her wife’s ear before opening her mouth to sing again.  
  
  
 _Baby mine, don't you cry,  
Baby mine, dry your eyes._  
  
  
Willow felt thumbs wipe at her eyes before Tara pulled her head down to her chest and began stroking her hair.  
  
  
 _Rest your head close to my heart..._  
  
  
Willow could only smile and love overwhelmed her and listened to Tara softly croon in her ear.  
  
  
 _Never to part, baby of mine._


	35. Chapter 35

  
  
Willow stretched back in her office chair and closed her eyes to take a break from staring at the numerous computer screens around her.   
  
  
Her lower back ached slightly despite the ergonomic lumbar support chair she had insisted on having since she spent most of her work day sitting in it. Her hands fell to her stomach at rest and she couldn’t help smiling as she felt the small protuberance through her shirt, the loose frills hiding it from anyone who was just looking.  
  
  
It was February 14th and that denoted the official three-month mark of her pregnancy, something she was more than elated about. As well as being out of the ‘danger zone’, she was hopeful her second trimester would bring an ease in her morning sickness (she’d even begun to notice a slight stalling in it, but she wasn’t prepared to acknowledge that to herself or anyone else yet, just in case she jinxed it). It also meant, the part she was most excited about, that they would be telling their friends and family, which she and Tara had agreed they’d do at the anniversary party they were having the following weekend.  
  
  
Willow got giddy any time she imagined telling JJ he was going to have a brother or sister or the look of joy she just knew would be on her father’s face when he found out he was going to be a Grandpa again.  
  
  
“Whaddya think, little one?” she spoke aloud in the safe confines of her closed office, “You ready for the world to know about you?  
  
  
She looked down at her stomach as if she was expecting an answer but instead just jumped in place as she heard a loud knocking on her door. She held her hand over her heart for a moment as it raced in surprise before standing up and straightening her shirt to make sure it covered the right area, then walked to her door, opening it to reveal a young, dark-haired boy that she recognised as someone from the mailroom.   
  
  
“Delivery, ma’am.”  
  
  
She glanced down at her watch.  
  
  
“At 5pm?”  
  
  
The boy just turned to the cart he had been pushing in front of him, mostly filled with outgoing mail he’d collected on his last run of the day and reached behind a large box addressed to the mayor of New York City, turning back with a bouquet of red roses, the stems wrapped in white tissue paper.   
  
  
He presented them to Willow to take, which she did in great confusion, then took the handle of his cart and started moving down the hall. Willow looked at the flowers for a moment before calling after him.  
  
  
“Wait, where are there from?”  
  
  
“There’s a note,” he called back over his shoulder before disappearing round a corner.  
  
  
Willow closed her door again and straightened the bouquet in her hand, instinctively dropped her head to inhale their sweet scent. She examined them for a moment and noted there were eleven perfectly arranged roses, thinking that was an odd number.  
  
  
 _Flower shop must’ve messed up._  
  
  
It took her another second to notice the flash of white buried between the soft petals and plucked the rectangular card from the bunch, only two words written on it.  
  
  
I’m waiting...  
  
  
The message would have been thoroughly confusing had she not recognised the handwriting as that of a certain blonde woman whose baby she happened to be carrying. She smiled, still confused, but happy to go along with whatever her wife was up to.  
  
  
“Well, we can’t keep Mommy waiting,” she spoke playfully to her stomach and put her flowers on her chair for a moment to shut down her system of computers from her mainframe.  
  
  
When the last one flashed the ‘Goodbye Willow’ message she’d set them up to (because she figured if she was going to spend her day surrounded by machines, they may as well be friendly), she wrapped her jacket around her body and swung her purse over one shoulder, holding her flowers in her hands as she flicked the lights in her office off and walked out, moving down the halls to the elevators.   
  
  
Once inside and having pressed the button for the lobby, she suddenly realised that she had no idea where exactly Tara was ‘waiting’ and pondered about where she should go once the elevator stopped, but her uncertainty problem was resolved when the doors opened and she spotted Tara straight away; standing still in the middle of the lobby, looking slightly uncomfortable as men and women in business suits stared while rushing past her but holding a steady smile on her face which widened when she saw Willow coming from the elevator.  
  
  
Willow rushed towards her wife, noticing she was holding the twelfth rose she’d thought was missing from the bunch.   
  
  
“Hi,” she said with a wide smile as she reached the blonde.  
  
  
“Hi,” Tara replied, slipping the rose she had in her hand behind Willow’s ear.  
  
  
Willow flashed her teeth in delight.  
  
  
“What are you doing here?”  
  
  
“You didn’t think breakfast in bed was all you were getting for Valentine’s Day, did you?” Tara asked with a soft smile, “Would it be really inappropriate to kiss you here?”  
  
  
Willow looked around and then back at Tara with a mischievous glint in her eye.  
  
  
“Don’t care.”  
  
  
She pressed their lips together for a chaste but loving kiss until Tara pulled away and linked their elbows through each other.  
  
  
“Come along, my darling,” she said sweetly, “Your chariot awaits.”  
  
  
They walked outside and Willow saw their red Dodge sitting along the street, noticing there were 3-inch, somewhat-oddly-shaped, red cardboard paper cut-outs of hearts taped to the window of the passenger side.  
  
  
“JJ’s contribution to our evening,” Tara spoke up before Willow even had to ask.  
  
  
Willow scrunched up her nose giddily.  
  
  
“Who’s babysitting?”  
  
  
“The 16 year old honor student who lives across the street that just broke up with her boyfriend and was more than happy to have any male company on Valentines night, even if it is a 5 year old,” Tara answered, releasing Willow’s arm as they reached the car to get in the driver’s side, speaking again when they were both inside, “And her father is home for the evening and right across the street if she needs him in an emergency.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in satisfaction that her son was being adequately cared for before another thought popped into her mind.  
  
  
“What about the Merc?”  
  
  
“You can leave it here overnight, right?” Tara asked and got an answering nod, “I’ll drive you to work in the morning.”  
  
  
Willow left her bunch of roses in the backseat and secured her seatbelt across her, only one more question on her mind.  
  
  
“Where are we going?”  
  
  
“We...are having an evening at the spa,” Tara answered, much to Willow’s surprise, “And then I have reservations at Italian, Mexican, Indian and Chinese places.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes widened but Tara just smiled and continued.  
  
  
“As well as a steakhouse and The Cheesecake Factory. I know your cravings have been going psycho lately and I didn’t dare try and guess what you might be in the mood for.”  
  
  
Willow looked both touched and impressed as Tara drove out of the parking spot and onto the streets.  
  
  
“How long have you been planning this?”  
  
  
“Since you forfeited our anniversary just so Anya could have a party,” Tara teased, then smiled, “I thought we could have a night just for us, for Valentines and our anniversary, like we did before we got married when we could only afford one night out.”  
  
  
“Valenversary,” Willow replied softly, remembering the portmanteau they’d come up with in college.  
  
  
“Valenversary,” Tara laughed, having forgotten that particular name, “Yes, exactly. I know we normally had our night on the weekend between Valentines and our anniversary, but I didn’t want you thinking I forgot about tonight. And you know, reaching the three month mark, it’s like a triple celebration.”  
  
  
Willow felt a familiar fluttering in her heart and leaned across the moving car to press her lips against her wife’s cheek. Tara kept her hands steady on the wheel but smiled widely as Willow lingered for a few moments before sitting back in her seat. Tara indicated onto another street, then stopped at a stoplight and looked at the redhead.  
  
  
“How’s my little bean doing today?”   
  
  
Willow smiled (despite the growing life inside her becoming decidedly more-baby and less-kidney-bean-shaped in the few weeks since the name’s inception, it had stuck) and put a hand on her stomach.  
  
  
“Wonderful,” she replied to Tara before looking down, “I can’t wait, in another month, I’ll be able to feel you move.”  
  
  
Tara pushed the car forward as the light turned green and looked amused as she thought of both Anya and Alice when they’d been in that latter stages of their pregnancies and had constantly complained of being kicked in their internal organs.  
  
  
“You might regret saying that.”  
  
  
“No way,” Willow replied, before shrugging, “Well...at least not at the beginning. Hey which spa are we going to?”  
  
  
“A place in Orchard Park,” Tara replied, “Only about ten minutes from here. I have mani-pedis, facials and couples massage booked.”  
  
  
Willow stretched back in the seat and sighed contentedly.  
  
  
“I’m relaxed already.”  
  
  
“Good,” Tara smiled as she drove onto the interstate that lead almost directly to the spa they were going to.  
  
  
They arrived at the spa in just over ten minutes, having had just a small amount of traffic getting off the interstate.   
  
  
“I’ll keep this safe with the others,” Willow said as Tara parked, taking the rose from behind her ear and reaching into the backseat to tuck it into the bouquet.  
  
  
They left the car and walked inside the large building where they were greeted straight away by an elaborate water feature, cascading down spiralled stones with the name of the spa embossed across the mosaic-glass backdrop and a light brown marbled floor. A rounded desk was off to the side, surrounded by a wall of shelving offering different kinds of beauty products. A petite woman wearing black pants and a white blouse was standing behind the desk, smiling at them in greeting.  
  
  
“Good evening. How can I help you?”  
  
  
“Hi,” Tara replied, walking over to the desk and leaving Willow to admire the water feature, “We’re booked in for the evening. It’s Tara Rosenberg-Maclay.”  
  
  
The receptionist started clicking keys on the computer behind the desk.  
  
  
“Of course, starting with a couples massage I see,” she replied before looking up in puzzlement, “I only see one appointment booked, are both your husbands joining you?”  
  
  
Tara heard Willow snort and shook her head at the receptionist.  
  
  
“Just us.”  
  
  
The woman went wide-eyed as she realised her mistake.  
  
  
“My apologies,” she replied genuinely, seeming more embarrassed by her misunderstanding than uncomfortable, “If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll send your massage therapists right out.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and walked past the water feature, taking Willow’s hand and moving them to the plastic chairs set up opposite. She sat in one but Willow stopped short before sitting.  
  
  
“Are you sure you don’t need that seat for your husband?”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes playfully and unzipped her purse to turn her cell phone onto vibrate so it wouldn’t disturb them but she’d still be contactable if there was an emergency with JJ while Willow giggled and sat down.  
  
  
“I mean, I wouldn’t want to take the place of your _husband_...”  
  
  
Tara dropped her cell back into her purse and shook her head at Willow.  
  
  
“And I wouldn’t want anyone to take the place of my _wife_.”  
  
  
“It amuses me when people don’t realise we’re a couple,” Willow replied, still finding the exchange hilarious, “We should just be kissing constantly, there’d be less confusion.”  
  
  
Tara narrowed her eyes slightly.  
  
  
“We wouldn’t be able to speak.”  
  
  
Willow shrugged.  
  
  
“Overrated.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and let out a low laugh but didn’t get a chance to respond as an even more petite woman than the receptionist appeared in front of them, this time blonde and wearing a black tunic over black pants.  
  
  
“Hi, I’m Alyssa, I’ll be one of your massage therapists today. Would you like to follow me?”  
  
  
Both women nodded and stood up, following Alyssa across the marbled floor and down a small hallway before turning into a large room with brown walls and dark mahogany furniture that smelled like orange spice and had two large massage tables set up in the middle. A tall and thin black-haired woman stood in one corner, wearing the same outfit as the blonde, folding crisp, soft-looking towels on top of a locker. She stopped when she saw them enter and smiled.  
  
  
“Good evening, I’m Corinne.”  
  
  
“Willow,” Willow replied, holding a hand up in indication, then pointing to her wife, “And Tara.”  
  
  
Corinne walked over to stand beside Alyssa.  
  
  
“Have either of you had massages before?”  
  
  
Willow looked confused.  
  
  
“You mean apart like... from each other?”  
  
  
Tara blushed slightly and Corinne just smiled.  
  
  
“Yes, sorry, have either of you ever received a professional massage?”  
  
  
“No, actually,” Willow shook her head before looking to Tara in uncertainty, “Uh, at least I don’t think...have you ever...?”  
  
  
“No,” Tara shook her head, “I’ve never had a professional massage.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Alyssa answered, “We’ll explain our technique, but if you could both get undressed and lie on the tables. You can cover yourself with those towels.”  
  
  
“Everything?” Willow asked hesitantly.  
  
  
“You can keep your underwear on if it makes you more comfortable,” Alyssa answered with a comforting smile, “And you can keep your clothes and purses safe in that closet. We’ll come back in a few minutes.”  
  
  
The two therapists left the couple in the warm-toned room and Willow exhaled slowly.  
  
  
“I don’t know about you, but the doctor is the only professional I’m even a little bit comfortable seeing my butt...or anything else.”  
  
  
Tara laughed quietly as she pulled her blouse over her head.  
  
  
“I don’t really mind,” she replied and saw Willow frown as she unbuttoned her shirt, “But I’ll leave them on if it would make you more comfortable.”  
  
  
Willow shrugged, obviously trying to act nonchalant.  
  
  
“You can do what you like with your own body. None of my business.”  
  
  
Tara walked over and embraced her now-topless wife from behind, her bra-clad breasts pressing into the redhead’s back.  
  
  
“If it involves my panties or what’s underneath them, it’s very much your business.”  
  
  
“I don’t mind, really,” Willow said after a moment, feeling Tara turn her head into her neck and caress her skin with her lips, “I mean they’re licensed specialists.”  
  
  
“I think I’ll leave them on anyway,” Tara replied and smiled against Willow’s skin, “It’s a tad too weird being naked in a room with you and you’re not the one touching me.”  
  
  
Willow tilted her neck just a bit to the side.  
  
  
“Keep kissing me like that and I will be touching you.”  
  
  
Tara left a final kiss over her wife’s pulsepoint before releasing her. They both stripped down to their underwear and Willow lay on the nearest table.   
  
  
“Is that okay for your tummy?” Tara asked as Willow shifted around on her stomach.  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Willow nodded as she rested her head on her hands, “It’s all cushioned.”  
  
  
Tara seemed satisfied at that and helped her wife affix the towel over her waist before gathering their folded clothes and their purses from the floor, placing them in the small closet sitting against the back wall, then lying on the opposite table and covering herself as well.  
  
  
“Are you looking forward to this?” she asked the redhead as their heads turned towards each other.  
  
  
“Definitely,” Willow answered with a smile, “This was a great idea, thank you.”  
  
  
“You’re welcome,” Tara replied, smiling, “Happy Valenversary.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and pursed her lips, blowing a kiss across the room before there was a knock on the thick wood of the door made a dull thud sound.  
  
  
“Come in,” Willow called and the two massage therapists re-entered the room.  
  
“Are you both comfortable?” Corinne asked as she walked to the locker that the towels had been on and bent down to press play on a hidden CD player in the open drawer beneath the surface, making tranquil ocean waves and blended soft music fill the room, before moving to stand over Tara, “So today we can do Swedish or Deep Tissue massage.”  
  
  
“What’s the difference?” Willow asked as she saw Alyssa take the same position over her.  
  
  
“Swedish is very calm, we gently work your muscles into releasing their tension and relax you,” Alyssa answered, “With Deep Tissue, it’s the same technique as the Swedish massage, but with a much deeper pressure.”  
  
  
There was a moment of silence before Tara spoke up.  
  
  
“I think Swedish,” she answered and Willow nodded in agreement.   
  
  
“We don’t want anything too rough.”  
  
  
“Definitely what we recommend for first-timers,” Alyssa smiled, “Do either of you have any muscle or bone, circulatory issues we should know about?”  
  
  
“No,” Willow shook her head, “But I’m pregnant.”  
  
  
The therapists shared a look, then nodded at each other.  
  
  
“That means we should switch,” Alyssa said as she and Corinne switched positions, much to the confusion of the other two.  
  
  
Corinne offered an explanation as she stood alongside Willow’s table.  
  
  
“I’m trained in pre-natal massage. How far along are you?”  
  
  
“Oh cool,” Willow answered with a smile, “Three months.”  
  
  
“Congratulations,” Corinne offered warmly, “Have any areas in particular been bothering you? Pain or swelling?”  
  
  
Willow told the woman about the various ailments she’d been experiencing, hearing Tara answering similar, although obviously slightly different questions before the therapists gathered their selection of oils and commenced the massages.  
  
  
Nothing but the sound of steady breathing and the peaceful music filled the room for a number of ticking minutes until Willow started to moan softly as Corinne worked her way down from where she’d started at her thighs to her swollen calves, feeling a release of pressure from the constant puffiness she’d felt in them for a number of weeks.  
  
  
Her moans only got louder as the woman worked back up her legs and to her back, easing the tension in her lower back she felt almost relentlessly.  
  
  
“Oh my god...Oh my goddddd...” she groaned as the warmth from the oils seeped into her skin, “I think I love you.”  
  
  
Willow felt eyes boring into her and turned her head to see Tara giving her a pointed look. She just offered a relaxed smile and reached her hand out between the tables.  
  
  
“I love you more.”  
  
  
Tara quirked her lips into a half-smile and reached out to take Willow’s hand, giving it a momentary squeeze before they both took their arms back.  
  
  
“I love you, too.”  
  
  
“You enjoying your massage?” Willow asked softly and Tara gave a lazy nod.  
  
  
“Very.”  
  
  
They lapsed into comfortable silence again as their muscles were kneaded and worked, continuing to just look at each other except for small excerpts when one or the other’s eyes would flutter closed in deep relaxation.  
  
  
The hour long massage passed much too quickly for either girl’s liking as the therapists announced they were finishing up.  
  
  
“There are robes in there you can wear for the rest of your evening if you’d like,” Alyssa said, pointing to the locker the CD player was in, “Whenever you’re ready, you can come back into the lobby and our beauty therapists will see to you.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara replied as the two started to make their way from the room.  
  
  
“Yea, thanks,” Willow added languidly, “You guys are great at your jobs.”  
  
  
The therapists just smiled and exited the room silently while Willow grinned sluggishly at her wife.  
  
  
“They are getting _serious_ tips,” she said to Tara, neither of them making an effort to move yet, “And I’m gonna need you to give me one of these at least three times a week.”  
  
  
“You got it,” Tara replied, stretching her arms out over her head, “I watched her around your legs. That looked like it was helping.”  
  
  
“So much,” Willow mumbled, “I actually feel like they’re feet again and not giant, inflatable beach balls attached to my ankles.”  
  
  
Tara stretched for another moment before pushing herself up into a sitting position on the table.  
  
  
“I’ll get a book or a DVD or something and learn the right technique so I can help you.”  
  
  
Willow watched as Tara thrust her naked chest out and moan in satisfaction.  
  
  
“I’m gonna want them more often if I always get a show like this after.”  
  
  
Tara smirked and slid off the table, going over to the robes and shaking one out before slipping it over her shoulders.  
  
  
“Well then I’d have to be naked too. Which I’d only really be if you were giving me a massage too.”  
  
  
Willow grinned.  
  
  
“There is exactly zero things wrong with that scenario.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and tied the fabric belt of the robe around her waist so that it fit snugly around her and picked up the other, bringing it over to Willow and holding it for her. Willow sighed and finally pushed herself from her comfortable lying position, stretching her arms back into the robe and making a sound of approval as she pulled the sides around her body.  
  
  
“God, what are these made of? Some kind of...silk-woven wool?” she asked, pulling the collar against her face to feel the softness, “Can we steal these?”  
  
  
Tara chuckled.  
  
  
“I don’t think they’d fit in our purses.”  
  
  
“A girl can dream,” Willow sighed morosely as she jumped from the table and let the robe fall to her knees.  
  
  
“Comfy?” Tara asked as her wife secured the garment around her.  
  
  
Willow nodded and wrapped her arms around herself to feel even more snugly. Tara just smiled and gestured towards the door.  
  
  
“Well then let’s go.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“I _love_ being married to a woman. Permanent spa buddy!”  
  
  
Tara took the circular cucumber slices from her eyes, careful not to touch the thick, green facemask covering her entire face and looked over to see Willow, in the same get-up, giddily wiggling her toes in the warm currents of the footbath her feet her placed in and admiring her freshly-manicured nails.  
  
  
“I haven’t been your ‘buddy’ in a long time.”  
  
  
“Well spa partner then. Spa wife. Spa love of my life,” Willow amended, still looking at the french polish on her tips, “Why don’t we have more spa dates?”  
  
  
Tara replaced the cucumber on her eyes as the beauty therapist, an immaculately-presented African American woman with soft brown eyes and a kind smile, exfoliated and massaged her feet.  
  
  
“Because we have a 5 year old, a baby on the way and it costs half a week’s salary?”  
  
  
“You make a good point,” Willow sighed, “We should still come back every now and then though.”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara agreed from her chair, “I could get used to this.”  
  
  
Willow grinned in victory just as her beauty therapist, a friendly and warm young Asian woman returned from where she’d gone to gather a display of different coloured MAC nail polishes, all neatly presented in individual slots in a plastic case so they were easily identifiable. She handed the case to Willow.  
  
  
“Would you like to choose a polish for your feet, ma’am?”  
  
  
“Oh, thank you,” Willow smiled and accepted the case, her eyes bypassing the bright colours and going straight over to the darker reds, picking up individual bottles for closer inspection as the therapist took her feet from the footbath and began towel-drying them, “Vintage Vamp? No thank you. Hmm, Rougemarie?”  
  
  
She ran a finger over a few more colours until a vibrant dark lilac shade caught her eye.  
  
  
“Oooh, Dark Angel,” she said as she picked the bottle up and read the name, twisting the top off to examine the color, “I think I like this one.”  
  
  
The therapist finished patting Willow’s feet with the towel and took the case back, letting it sit on the floor behind her. Willow handed her the bottle she’d selected and the woman nodded approvingly.  
  
  
“This will suit your skin tone very nice.”  
  
  
“Great!” Willow replied enthusiastically, relaxing back in the black leather swivel chair.  
  
  
She felt one foot being raised onto a stool and pointed her toes out for the woman to begin to apply the polish, before looking over at Tara and noticing she was peering at the case of colours.  
  
  
“The blues would look nice on you.”  
  
  
Tara nodded in agreement and peered at the colours before picking one up.  
  
  
“Biker Blue?” she asked, holding up a bottle of a dark, almost navy shade, shining with sparkles of bright blue flecks, looking like a firework had been released inside.  
  
  
“Beautiful,” Willow replied, flashing her teeth in a smile, “As ever.”  
  
  
Tara grinned.  
  
  
“That would be charming if your face wasn’t covered in green gunk.”  
  
  
“Green faces are all the rage,” Willow replied with an air of mock-indignation, “Wicked is one of the longest running Broadway shows, you know.”  
  
  
“I’ll take your word for it,” Tara responded, handing the bottle of polish she’d chosen to her beauty therapist.  
  
  
Willow just smiled and looked down to admire the colour on her first finished foot. When the polish had been applied to both of their feet, the therapists started to remove the facemasks from the women, covering their skin in a light moisturiser after to finish.  
  
  
Feeling revitalised and refreshed, they went back into the room they’d been massaged in and retrieved their clothing, dressing again. As they were leaving the room and going towards reception, Willow entwined her fingers with Tara and made a sound of admiration at their smoothness from the manicure.  
  
  
“Your hands are so soft,” she said, bringing her other hand up to stroke Tara’s from both sides before leaning her mouth over to her wife’s ear and whispering, “They're going to feel amazing inside me tonight.”  
  
  
Tara felt like a hot stone was dropped into her lower stomach but managed to remain composed, despite a small blush, and cleared her throat.  
  
  
“Behave.”  
  
  
“Never,” Willow replied and dropped Tara’s hand to sneak her own behind and give the blonde’s butt a cheeky squeeze through her pants.  
  
  
Tara jumped a little but couldn’t help grinning and cleared her throat to calm herself as they reached the reception desk. The receptionist had been organising the bottles of product behind the desk but quickly turned to their attention.  
  
  
“Did you have a good evening with us tonight?”  
  
  
“Yes, very,” Tara answered, her wallet already in her hand and ready.  
  
  
The receptionist smiled.  
  
  
“And how will you paying today?”  
  
  
“Card,” Tara replied, retrieving the plastic from its pocket and handing it across the desk.  
  
  
When the transaction was complete and Tara was folding the A4 page receipt she’d gotten, Willow suddenly pulled out her wallet and handed two $50 notes to the brunette woman.  
  
  
“Can you split that between the 4 women who looked after us?”  
  
  
“Of course, ma’am,” the receptionist responded, discreetly leaving the money behind the desk, “Thank you for your custom today.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied and took Tara’s hand again, walking them past the water feature to the exit.  
  
  
It was just stretching into the night part of twilight as they strolled across the carpark, some stars beginning to twinkle in the sky. Willow gently swung their hands between them before a thought occured to her.  
  
  
“You didn’t add a tip when you were paying already, did you?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“No, I was going to give cash before you did. The spa probably would’ve taken at least a percentage of anything officially added.”  
  
  
“Yea, I know, it sucks for the workers. They were so nice and so _good_ ,” Willow replied before her stomach rumbled and she put her spare hand over it, “We want food.”  
  
  
“Then food I shall get my wife and child,” Tara replied with a smile, “What are you in the mood for?”  
  
  
Willow thought for a moment before giving a definitive nod.  
  
  
“I am definitely jonesing for some Chinese.”


	36. Chapter 36

  
  
“Hey, great table,” Willow commented as they were seated at the restaurant full of couples, their table alongside the large floor-to-ceiling window and looking out over much of the twinkling lights of the city.  
  
  
“It is,” Tara agreed as she placed her jacket over her chair and sat down.  
  
  
Their server was a young Chinese woman, young enough that Tara suspected she was probably a daughter of whoever owned the restaurant, but was pleasant and friendly as she attended to them.  
  
  
“Can I bring you some drinks to start your meal?” she asked with an American accent, leaving a menu on both of their place settings.  
  
  
“Iced tea,” Willow answered as she opened the menu straight away, more than eager for some food.  
  
  
“Me too, please,” Tara smiled at the girl, “With ice.”  
  
  
The girl disappeared, zigzagging between the tables to the bar area at the opposite side of the restaurant.  
  
  
“I’ll drive if you want to have a drink,” Willow said from behind her menu.  
  
  
Tara just shook her head.  
  
  
“Work tomorrow. You know I don’t hold my liquor well.”  
  
  
Willow protruded her bottom lip slightly.  
  
  
“But drunk Tara is cute.”  
  
  
“And hungover Tara won’t be able to do her job properly,” Tara countered before grinning, “Although it’s nowhere near the despair you fall into when you’ve drunk too much.”  
  
  
Willow had to concede that; it was true she didn’t handle hangovers well, and before she’d gotten pregnant, had never really had more than a glass of wine or a beer in the evenings unless it was a special occasion.   
  
  
Or if Becky got to her. She tended to give into peer pressure easily.  
  
  
“Well you don’t have to worry about that for a while.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she scanned the front of the menu, but she already knew what she wanted so it wasn’t taking her full focus. Willow too put her menu down in decision after just a few moments but Tara didn’t get a chance to ask what she’d decided on as their server returned and placed a glass of cloudy liquid in front of each of them.  
  
  
“Are you ready to order?” she asked, noting the menus weren’t in their hands.  
  
  
Willow looked to Tara expectantly, who nodded.  
  
  
“We’re ready,” Willow confirmed, waiting for the girl to get her notebook and pen out before continuing, “Wonton soup and Kung Pao Chicken, please. With fried rice.”  
  
  
“And I’ll have the Beef Lo Mein. With some extra vegetables, please,” Tara added as the girl scribbled, then looked at them.  
  
  
“Can I bring you some shrimp toast?”  
  
  
“Not if I wanna kiss my wife tonight,” Willow responded, shuddering as she recalled the last time, many years ago when they were still in college, that she’d eaten shrimp and kissed Tara, the aftermath of which making her swear off them for life, “Making her lips blow up like a puffer fish once was enough.”  
  
  
Tara blushed lightly and shook her head.  
  
  
“No thank you, I’m allergic.”  
  
  
The girl just nodded and disappeared again and Tara kicked Willow’s shin under the table. Willow jumped in her seat and reached a hand down to her shin.  
  
  
“Did you just kick me?” she asked incredulously.  
  
  
Tara suddenly looked alarmed.  
  
  
“Did I hurt you?”  
  
  
“No, no, no,” Willow quickly reassured, reached across the table for her wife’s hand and shaking her head, “No.”  
  
  
“Sorry I kicked you,” Tara replied, glancing under the table before back at Willow with a pointed look, “Puffer fish?”  
  
  
“Tara, they were ten times their normal size,” Willow defended herself, “Trust me, I remember, I was terrified.”  
  
  
“You didn’t know I was allergic,” Tara replied kind-heartedly, before deciding to change the subject and pointing off to the side at an object on the wall, “Look at the kitty.”  
  
  
Willow looked over to the glinting, golden metal cat, its large eyes seeming like it was following everything in the room and its magnetic, hinged paw moving up and down as if it was waving.  
  
  
“I love Chinese restaurants. The decorations are so fun,” she said before her face lit up animatedly as she remembered scenes she’d seen from outside her office window just a couple of weeks previously, “Or during Chinese New Year when they have that mini-parade around the city and they get like 20 people to be the dragon. We should take JJ to see that next year.”  
  
  
Tara looked unconvinced.  
  
  
“He’s had nightmares about dragons already.”  
  
  
“Ones that breathe fire,” Willow pointed out, “Not ones that look like a rainbow and dance around the place.”  
  
  
“Well we’ll have the baby too by then. Even if JJ’s old enough, it would probably be too scary for the little one,” Tara replied and saw Willow’s disappointed look, “But maybe if we think Jake would be okay with it, you can take him and I’ll stay home with the baby.”  
  
  
Willow brightened and nodded.  
  
  
“I’ll only take him if I really think it won’t scare him. We have like, a year, to think about it anyway.”  
  
  
Tara placed her chin on her palm and smiled wistfully.  
  
  
“Plenty can happen in a year.”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Willow nodded again, “Did you think this time last year that I’d be pregnant?”  
  
  
Tara thought for a moment before shaking her head.  
  
  
“No, not really. But I did think about it.”  
  
  
Willow looked at her wife curiously.  
  
  
“Did you ever think about yourself pregnant?” she asked and got a slow smile and a nod, “Did you...like those thoughts?”  
  
  
Tara nodded again and Willow leant forwards in her seat.  
  
  
“So...say, when this little one is running around...and we start to remember what it’s like to have a little baby...and we maybe want to feel that again...”  
  
  
Tara smiled a little wider.  
  
  
“I would definitely be open to being pregnant it if we decide to have more.”  
  
  
Willow got a pleased look on her face and gave a small laugh.  
  
  
”Awesome.”  
  
  
The couple shared a smile for a moment before their server returned carrying a red bowl with a dragon design around it, protecting her hands from the heat by carrying it with a dishcloth. She placed the bowl in front of Willow and departed again. Willow picked up the ceramic Chinese soup spoon that was laid out above her placemat and sunk it into the bowl before bringing it up to her mouth and sipping the broth from it.  
  
  
“Mmhh, yummy,” she said as the flavourful liquid danced on her tastebuds, “Here, try some.”  
  
  
She filled the spoon to a safe, spill-avoidable level and met Tara halfway across the table.  
  
  
“Very good,” Tara agreed as she swallowed the steamy broth, “Can I have a wonton?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow replied, pushing her bowl more towards the center of the table so Tara could take one of the floating dumplings with her chopsticks.  
  
  
Willow finished the soup before she moved onto the rest of the wantons and had only finished completely for a few minutes when their main course arrived. They both sampled a piece of the other’s meal before falling into happy conversation about their anniversary party and how exactly they were going to tell everyone about the baby.  
  
  
When their stomachs were full and they’d let the food settle into their systems, they decided it was time to head home before it got too late, conscious that their babysitter had school the next day and received the cheque with two fortune cookies. Tara sent the cheque back with her credit card and handed one of the fortune cookies to Willow while snapping her own open.  
  
  
“You are never selfish with your advice or your help,” Tara read from the slip of paper that was revealed, “Huh. That’s not very fortune-like.”  
  
  
“It’s true though,” Willow replied before reading her own fortune, “Do not upset the penguin today.”  
  
  
She did a slight double-take as she registered the words and read them again to herself to confirm she had it right.  
  
  
“What the frilly heck does that mean?”  
  
  
Tara shrugged.  
  
  
“Well apparently you’re not supposed to upset the penguin.”  
  
  
Willow continued to look bewildered.  
  
  
“Who’s the penguin?”  
  
  
Tara held up her hands in uncertainty.   
  
  
“Maybe it’s a metaphor.”  
  
  
“A metaphor? So I’m not supposed to upset someone’s who’s short, waddles and can’t fly?” Willow asked before her eyes went wide as that thought made her realise something else, “Oh my god that’s going to be me in a few months.”  
  
  
“And you’re not supposed to upset yourself,” Tara laughed across the table, “So don’t think about it.”  
  
  
Willow continued to stare at the paper.  
  
  
“So my fortune is to not upset myself by not thinking about something I wouldn’t have thought about if I hadn’t gotten the fortune in the first place?” she asked before shaking her head, “That is much too confusing for an after-dinner cookie. I’m going to pretend it said ‘I see nakedness in your near future’.”  
  
  
She flashed a twinkling smile at her wife, who grinned back.  
  
  
“Also accurate,” Tara replied and nodded in thanks as their server brought her credit card back, “Shall we go make a move towards that?”  
  
  
“Most definitely,” Willow responded, eagerly standing up to put her jacket back on.  
  
  
They gathered their things and walked from the top-level restaurant down into the street where their car was parked. Tara drove them home; Willow teasingly tapping her fingers against the blonde’s thigh the whole way there.  
  
  
“I feel like I have a driving test anytime we’re in a car alone together,” Tara said as she drove up the very-slight incline of their driveway and smiled wryly over at her wife as she shut the engine off, “Just how much distraction can I put up with without causing an accident.”  
  
  
They both opened their doors and exited the car and Willow responded as Tara walked around to her.  
  
  
“I think it teeters on a fine line between thigh stroking and neck kissing.”  
  
  
Tara smiled in the darkness and wrapped an arm around Willow’s shoulder, leaning down to kiss the top of her head as they walked towards the front door of their house. Tara used the keys in her hand to open the door and heard the television being turned off as they walked over the threshold and took Willow’s jacket off her back, going to hang them up on the coat-rack.   
  
  
A shy-looking, very pretty teenage girl with think, wavy black hair appeared from the living room and Willow walked over to her.  
  
  
“Hi,” she whispered, walking over to the young girl, “I’m Willow, we didn’t meet earlier.”  
  
  
“Emily,” the girl offered with a small smile and a wave.  
  
  
“Nice to meet you, Emily,” Willow smiled back, “I’ve seen you around the neighbourhood.”  
  
  
“Yea,” Emily replied, before visibly straightening herself up, “I mean yes. I see you guys too. And JJ.”  
  
  
“Don’t worry, you’re not being interviewed, you can relax,” Willow responded, putting a hand on the tense girl’s arm momentarily in comfort before looking towards the stairs, “Was he okay?”  
  
  
Emily seemed more at ease and nodded.  
  
  
“We made a Play-Doh city and watched Scooby Doo. And I cut up some peach and mixed it with some yogurt for a snack, he was hungry before bed.”  
  
  
“Wow, sounds like he had a great evening,” Willow replied with a smile and reached into her purse for her wallet, frowning when she saw it was empty and turning to her wife, “Tara?”  
  
  
Tara looked over and saw the redhead mouthing ‘cash’ to her. She bent down to get her wallet and opened it as she walked over to the other two, retrieving two $20 notes and folding them into each other, handing them to Emily when she got to them.  
  
  
“I hope we didn’t keep you up too late.”  
  
  
“Not at all,” Emily replied and picked up the bookbag that was sitting against the doorframe into the living room, “I would’ve been up doing homework at home anyway.”  
  
  
Willow nodded approvingly.  
  
  
“Homework’s important. And fun!”  
  
  
Emily looked at Willow like she’d grown a third head; she was an honor student and made sure she kept her grades at the 4.0 average she’d maintained since elementary, but saying it was ‘fun’ was ridiculous even to her. Tara held back a laugh and put a hand on Emily’s back to guide her to the door.  
  
  
“We’ll just watch to make sure you get home safe.”  
  
  
“Sure,” Emily nodded, recovered slightly as she was lead forwards, “I’ll see you guys.”  
  
  
“Bye,” Tara replied as Emily opened the door, “Thanks for tonight.”  
  
  
“Sorry, I only had those bills I tipped at the spa,” Willow said as they watched the girl cross the road and walk two houses down to her own home, “She seems really nice.”  
  
  
Emily waved as she reached her door and slipped inside. Tara closed the door behind them as well.  
  
  
“I brought her over last week to play with JJ and get to know her. I was looking for tonight obviously, but I thought it would be good if we had a babysitter who lived just across the street.”  
  
  
“Yea, don’t have to worry about driving her home after,” Willow agreed before suddenly crossing her legs, shoved her flowers into Tara’s hand and moving towards the stairs, “Will you put those in water? Baby bladder!”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara called after her quietly, “I’m just going to make sure we’re all locked up.”  
  
  
She heard footsteps rush up the stairs and went into the living room, ensuring the windows were all closed and the appliances were off, then did the same in the kitchen, checking the doors that led into the backyard. Once happy their home was secured, she took a vase from the shelving on the wall and filled it halfway with water, then slipped the tissue paper down the stems and placed the freed roses in the water.   
  
  
She played around with them until they fell in even distribution around the vase and placed it in the centre of the island before following up the stairs where she spotted Willow leaning against the doorframe of JJ’s room.  
  
  
She walked over and wrapped her arms around Willow’s midsection from behind, looking in on their sleeping son, his body illuminated from the shadow of the Batman symbol that was being projected onto the wall from his nightlight.   
  
  
The blankets had been kicked halfway down his body, revealing the top half of his checkered pyjamas and he was lying on his side facing the door, his arms wrapped firmly around his chest, clinging to the dark red teddy bear, Cinnamon, that he’d had since he was a baby (the first Willow and Tara had bought him when setting up his nursery) for dear life.  
  
  
“He’s a cuddler,” Tara commented quietly, “Like his momma.”  
  
  
“He’s a cutie,” Willow responded in the same hushed tone, “Like his mommy.”  
  
  
They both looked on lovingly at the boy for a few moments before Willow turned her head and pressed her lips lightly against Tara’s. When the blonde started to respond, she turned fully in her wife’s arms and clasped her hands together behind Tara’s back, pushing them from the doorway and in the direction of their bedroom.  
  
  
When they rounded the door, Willow pushed Tara gently against it to make it close, pressing their bodies together as her tongue started to push against the blonde’s teeth.  
  
  
Tara welcomed the warmth into her mouth and slipped her hands down to Willow’s rear, taking generous squeezes through her pants and pulling her up so their chests pushed against each other, making both of their nipples harden as they rubbed against the fabric of their bras.  
  
  
“Tara,” Willow moaned against her wife’s lips, one hand moving down the ‘v’ of Tara’s blouse to cup her breast through her shirt, “Mmhh, baby.”  
  
  
Tara felt shivers of desire go down her spine as Willow’s breath hit against her lips and took her other hand, pulling the redhead across the room to the bed. She perched on the end and grinned as she tugged Willow onto her lap.  
  
  
Willow watched as Tara sexily bit her lip and dropped her head to the exposed part of her wife’s chest, kissing whatever piece of skin her mouth found before slowly slipping into a kneeling position between Tara’s legs.  
  
  
She pulled one leg up and slipped a finger into the back of the kitten-heeled peep-toe shoe on her wife’s left foot, putting space between Tara’s foot and shoe and slid her finger around the arch until it slipped off. She did the same action to rid Tara of her other shoe and slid her hands up the smooth surface of the blonde’s pants to her knees. She leant her head forwards, making Tara lean back just slightly, and started to kiss along the line of skin that was revealed between the hem of her blouse and waistband of her pants.  
  
  
Tara sighed softly as each kiss sent a fresh tingle just south of where Willow’s lips were touching her skin and moaned as fingers crawled up her thighs and moved inwards, pulling the two sides of her pants apart to release the two metal clasps keeping them closed. She lifted her hips as Willow pulled her legs free from the fabric and gasped as lips pressed against her panties, feeling some of her arousal seep through.  
  
  
Willow’s tongue flitted out over her lips as she got the barest hint of Tara’s taste and let it fall from her mouth completely, pushing it against the thin material and rolling the tip against the bump she found.  
  
  
She heard Tara moan and felt her wife push her hips forward before a hand that didn’t belong to her slipped down and pulled the panties to one side. She took a generous eyeful of the engorged, pink flesh as she resisted the urge to just drop her head again, letting herself take in the heady scent that set her senses on fire before taking Tara’s hand away with a slow exhalation.  
  
  
She looked up to see Tara looking back at her, clearly disappointed at her thwarted efforts, and moved her hands to the hem of her wife’s blouse, pulling the two sides apart just slightly so the bottom button popped open.  
  
  
“This needs to come off first.”  
  
  
She continued to slowly pull the fabric apart to open the buttons until she reached the midway-point and the temptation of the creamy-white skin of Tara’s stomach and the alluring black, lace bra that was starting to come into view made her tear the rest open in one swift movement. She pushed the garment down Tara’s shoulders and grabbed the sleeve when it fell onto the mattress, tossing it to the floor.  
  
  
She brought her hands to Tara’s shoulders and trailed a single finger down alongside each side of the straps of her wife’s bra and circling inwards around the tops of her breasts until they met in the centre and she let them drop off. Her mouth replaced her hands as she started dropping kisses around the encased flesh.  
  
  
Tara stretched her back to give Willow as much as possible to place her ruby lips upon and moaned as those lips started moving up her chest and to her neck. She dropped her hands to Willow’s back but got instantly frustrated at the clothing barrier stopping her from feeling the soft and silky skin she wanted. She started to bunch the material up until she could pull it completely off.  
  
  
Willow assisted by raising he arms over her head and made sure her lips were only detached from Tara’s neck for the split second the shirt prevented contact. Her kisses became more frenzied as Tara’s hands pulled and roamed down her back and she eagerly wiggled out of her bra when she felt the hooks being pushed apart before her head was suddenly pulled up and her lips captured in a fiery embrace.  
  
  
She wrapped her arms around Tara’s neck and pulled them as close together as possible to deepen the kiss, pushing her naked breasts against her wife’s covered ones as Tara’s hands fell to the small of her back, slipping just beneath the waistband of her pants.   
  
  
Willow’s tongue enthusiastically played with Tara’s in her mouth but as the blonde’s hands continued to slip lower and lower, she started to stand up from her kneeling position, helping herself up by putting her hands on her wife’s shoulders until their mouths were pulled apart.  
  
  
Tara’s face was flushed as her kiss-bruised lips stayed parted after Willow pulled away but she wasted no time in loosening and pulling her wife’s pants down her legs. Willow stepped out of them and could only smile as she felt Tara start to nuzzle against her rounded stomach, the small bump clearly visible on her small, naked frame.   
  
  
“Lucky we’re telling people soon, huh? Not gonna be able to keep that secret for much longer.”  
  
  
Tara responded by placing a warm kiss just above Willow’s bellybutton before looking up to meet the redhead’s gaze.  
  
  
Willow was pretty sure her knees would have given way at the seductive half-smile being shot in her direction had Tara not had a firm hold on her hips and grinned as her wife yanked her panties down to her ankles, then pulled her onto the bed.  
  
  
Her underwear hung around her foot from the swift motion and she giggled as they both knelt on the mattress, facing each other, then reached down to throw her panties off.  
  
  
A low moan escaped her lips as she felt Tara’s teeth begin to nip at her neck before she’d even straightened up properly and tilted her head with a faint gasp as Tara bit down lightly on the sensitive skin beneath her ear and hands snaked around her waist to firmly cup her buttocks.  
  
  
She crossed her hands behind her wife’s neck, palms flat on her back underneath her shoulders, taking fistfuls of the blonde’s flesh every few moments as Tara licked and sucked at her pulsepoint and used her grip on Willow’s buttocks to pull their bodies together; their hips and stomachs caressing each other in fleeting moments while their nipples hit against each other and caused instant sparks of desire.  
  
  
“Tara,” Willow breathed in a moan, her teeth digging into her bottom lip to muffle herself.  
  
  
Her hands uncrossed themselves as she began to reach further down her wife’s back, trying to get her fingers around the hooks of the bra that was keeping their chests from full contact but found they kept slipping away as Tara’s tongue started to lick up and around her ear.  
  
  
Tara grinned to herself as she felt Willow shake in her embrace in response to her darting tongue movements in what she knew was easily her wife’s number one, not-so-obvious erogenous zone.  
  
  
After a few minutes, she noticed the pulling sensation on the fabric against her skin and realised what Willow was trying to do. She dragged her tongue downwards over the curve of her wife’s ear and let it fall off before turning around so her back was to her wife.  
  
  
Willow blinked in confusion for a few moments before seizing the opportunity to get the pesky garment off and unhooked it, pulling it down Tara’s arms and throwing it to the floor before wrapping one arm around her wife’s waist and using her other hand to gather Tara’s hair over one shoulder. She dropped her head to trail kisses along the patch of skin where Tara’s neck met her shoulder and placed her palm flat on the blonde’s stomach, moving it around in a circle before starting to slide it down and into the front of Tara’s panties.  
  
  
Tara’s head lolled back against Willow’s shoulder as the redhead’s fingertips danced along her mound and outer lips and moaned when the heel of her wife’s palm hit against her clit. She felt Willow drag her palm up against the bump in her flesh until their gazes locked and she pulled her hand out completely. Tara was about to voice a protest when she felt hands either side of her tug down her panties to her knees. She raised each knee up individually to help Willow remove them completely and watched them sail over her head and land on a knob on a drawer in their dresser.  
  
  
“Is that where we’re keeping our underwear now?” Tara asked with a lopsided grin.  
  
  
“I don’t care where we keep them as long as they’re off you,” Willow whispered as one hand moved over the curve of Tara’s hip and took a steady hold of her while the other snaked under her breasts and slowly creeped down towards the apex of her thighs.  
  
  
Tara felt her stomach drop lower and lower in time with her wife’s hand as Willow’s breathing got heavier in her ear.  
  
  
“You’re so sexy,” Willow murmured into Tara’s ear as she sucked on her lobe and squeezed her stomach and hip simultaneously.  
  
  
Tara’s body was humming with want; both her own and the want for her she could feel emanating from Willow. She turned her head so they were staring sideways at each other, noses and lips almost touching. She gave a sensual smile.  
  
  
“Yea?”  
  
  
“Oh yes,” Willow replied, her gaze darting between her wife’s eyes and lips before her hand suddenly dropped significantly, “I need to be inside you.”  
  
  
Tara almost fell forwards at the unexpected but very welcome intrusion of two of Willow’s fingers inside her and pushed her body back against the redhead’s to compensate; letting out a long, loud moan.   
  
  
“You like that, baby?” Willow purred in her wife’s ear, pulling her arm up and down so her fingers kept a steady thrusting motion.  
  
  
“Yes,” Tara gasped and pushed her hips forwards, feeling some wetness against her butt cheeks when she pushed them back, “Mmhh, you like it too.”  
  
  
Willow scraped the edge of her teeth along the skin on Tara’s neck and slowed the pace of her fingers, enjoying the feeling of every millimetre she moved in her wife’s flesh.  
  
  
“You feel incredible,” she murmured, pressing her lips against Tara’s pulsepoint and feeling it vigorously pounding beneath them, “So wet. So tight. So hot.”  
  
  
Tara could feel blood rushing around her ears and being sent decidedly south as Willow’s fingers picked up their pace again and she strained her neck back against her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Take me.”  
  
  
“I am,” Willow replied in a seductive and confident tone, using her grip on Tara’s hip and her own hips against her wife’s ass to set a fast pace.  
  
  
As Tara’s moans got more unrestrained, Willow kept her gaze sidelong on the blonde’s face, watching every crease and crumple of ecstasy that crossed her features until her hand started massaging its way up Tara’s side, over her shoulder and up to trace a single finger along her wife’s lips.  
  
  
She watched with very-heavy lidded eyes as Tara wrapped her lips around her finger and sucked it into her mouth, bathing it with her tongue as their hips continued to push forwards together in perfect sync.  
  
  
When Tara’s sucking on her finger started to make her become too unfocused to concentrate on what her other fingers were doing, Willow took it back and moved her hand down to her wife’s breast, using her wet digit to rub the blonde’s nipple into a stiff peak.  
  
  
When it was hard enough to take between her fingers, she started to pinch tightly and got a hiss of appreciation for her efforts. She felt Tara’s hips start to push harder against her and bear down, so she curled her fingers upwards. A quick flick of her wrist to the left let her find the spongy spot of flesh she was aiming for and she dropped her hand again to rub Tara’s clit vigorously.  
  
  
Tara tried and failed to contain a strangled groan and threw her arm backwards around Willow’s neck to stop herself from tumbling off the bed. Willow’s head turned inwards instinctively to stop her wife’s arm from pressing against her windpipe and seized the opportunity to launch a fresh kissing attack on the blonde’s neck, feeling Tara’s teeth clench as the tension moved down through her body and waited for the inevitable explosion she knew was on the cusp of occurring.  
  
  
She felt the heat first; the intense, molten heat that would be extremely uncomfortable if it wasn’t so damn _good_ and groaned in pleasure herself when the accompanying gush of juices ran down her wrist. She stilled the hand inside her wife to feel the deep contractions pulsating around her fingers and reacted quickly when she heard Tara start to cry out loudly, swooping her head up and pulling the blonde’s lips against her own.  
  
  
She swallowed every intense moan that left the blonde’s lips as her fingers continued to very gently rub over her wife’s clit until Tara’s head fell forwards and her whole body went limp. Willow kept her hand inside Tara but moved the other away to hold the blonde’s hip and started to press kisses to the back of her neck.  
  
  
Tara dug her knees into the mattress so she wouldn’t fall on Willow and felt her chest heave as her lungs sought to refill themselves with oxygen. It became harder and harder to stay upright as a post-orgasm fatigue hit her and she leant back just slightly against Willow.  
  
  
“It’s taking all my strength not to fall back on you right now.”  
  
  
She sighed softly as she felt Willow’s fingers slip from inside her and stroke up along her folds before falling off completely. She felt a last kiss being placed under her ear and squeeze of her hip before Willow shuffled over on the bed. Tara gratefully let herself crash down onto the mattress and arched her back while her arms stretched over her head.  
  
  
“That was incredible,” she murmured as she felt the weight on the bed shift as Willow lay down beside her and opened her eyes to see her wife turned on her side, head propped up on her elbow, gazing down at her lovingly.  
  
  
“Can I get a smooch? You weren’t very responsive when I was stopping you from waking our son – and the whole street – up.”  
  
  
Tara’s cheeks flushed even brighter from their already reddened-from-exertion state.  
  
  
“I wasn’t that loud.”   
  
  
Willow leaned her head down slightly and pursed her lips to hide a smirk.  
  
  
“You are many things, my love. Wonderful wife. Perfect mother. My best friend, my absolute everything,” she replied, a grin slowly spreading across her face as she spoke, “But quiet when I’m touching you isn’t one of them.”  
  
  
Willow could see Tara trying not to show her embarrassment and her grin got wider.  
  
  
“You’re a screamer, Tara...” she teased, chuckling as Tara averted her gaze, “They use you as an example on the decibel scale, you know. Right between playing your iPod at full volume in your ears and being in the front row at an Ozzy Osbourne concert.”  
  
  
“Alright, I get it,” Tara replied, rolling her eyes good-naturedly, “Do you want that smooch or not?”  
  
  
“Yes, please,” Willow replied quickly and dropped her head to meet Tara in a kiss.  
  
  
Her lips fell perfectly between her wife’s, moving over and sucking the plumpness as she felt herself filled with the sweetness that Tara imbued in her kisses. After several minutes, she pulled back just an inch for a moment and was about to lean back down when she noticed a movement in the corner of her eye. She looked over and gave a quiet giggle when she saw Tara’s panties fall from the dresser to the floor.  
  
  
“There goes your–mmmhhh...”   
  
  
Her amusement was cut short as Tara took the opportunity to start kissing and licking around her ear again. She moaned loudly and moved her head down so Tara could continue without straining her neck as her palm lay flat on the blonde’s stomach to keep her steady.  
  
  
Her hand started to creep up towards Tara’s breast as a warm tongue wiggled inside her ear and made shudders shoot down her spine; her fingers eventually finding the globular flesh and massaging it lightly.  
  
  
Tara moved her hand behind Willow’s neck and started tapping down the curve of her back; feather-light movements that she knew was turning her wife on even more, if the throaty moans and insistent squeezing of her breast was any indication. Which Tara was all too aware, they were.  
  
  
She continued in her efforts until she felt Willow throw one leg over hers and felt her thigh covered in sticky wetness as the redhead started rubbing herself up and down quite vigorously. She released her wife’s ear from her mouth and stilled her hand, which made Willow turn to face her.   
  
  
Less than a second after their eyes met, their lips hungrily pounced on each other and Tara grabbed both of Willow’s hips, pulling the redhead completely on top of her. When Willow was securely atop her and grinding their lower halves together, Tara slipped one hand down between their bodies and started to tease the redhead’s entrance.  
  
  
Much to Willow’s relief, she gave into the temptation of the wet heat after only a few moments and pushed a single finger inside. Willow threw her head back and shut her eyes tightly as she panted loudly, then gasped when a second finger filled her up just a few seconds later. She sat back so she was straddling the blonde and moaned when that made the fingers inside her push in more deeply.  
  
  
“Oh baby,” she moaned, rotating her hips around in a circular motion in pace with the steady thrusting of her wife’s fingers, “Mmhh, Tara...”  
  
  
Tara watched Willow’s face contorting in pleasure above her but her gaze was drawn lower as the hypnotic gyrating of Willow hips in her peripheral vision made her eyeline drop, hovering over the tiny baby bump for a moment before falling to the engorged, pink flesh that her hand was nestled in.   
  
  
She continued to pull Willow’s hip forwards and licked her lips as she watched her fingers move in and out until the redhead’s voice pulled her attention upwards again.  
  
  
“Deeper, baby, please...so deep...”  
  
  
Tara pushed herself up into a sitting position and felt Willow’s hands rest on her shoulders and her body grind more insistently down on her fingers. She brushed her lips against her wife’s in a repeated teasing motion until Willow captured them passionately and started to push them back down onto the bed, but quickly found herself on her back instead; Tara having flipped them in an instant.   
  
  
Willow moaned loudly as Tara quickened her thrusts and started to curl her fingers, and squeezed her shoulders tightly. She parted her lips as she felt Tara’s breath hitting against them as the blonde hovered above her and gulped as burning blue orbs stared straight into her soul.   
  
  
She let out a shaky breath and cast her eyes downward, letting her gaze stay lowered for several seconds before looking back at Tara, hoping her wife would understand what she was asking without words because her mouth was too dry to form them.  
  
  
Tara, of course, understood perfectly and left Willow with a sultry smile before shuffling down to lie between the redhead’s legs. Willow bent her knees upwards as Tara dropped her head and started licking around her hand.  
  
  
“Tara,” Willow gasped and placed her hand flat on her wife’s head as Tara began to suck on her clit, “Yesss...”  
  
  
Tara thrust and twisted her fingers in and out of Willow and worked her mouth over the throbbing nub, making the redhead’s body spiral out of control; hips pumping furiously against her, the hand on her head pulling at strands of her hair and moans floating down to her, obviously muffled by what she guessed was her wife biting down on the pillow.  
  
  
It wasn’t long before she felt Willow’s thighs start to quake around her ears before clamping down around her completely. Her hand movements became more restricted but as she felt the redhead’s inner muscles constrict around her fingers, she knew just letting them rest inside would be enough for Willow.  
  
  
Her hearing was almost completely cut-off by her wife’s thighs, but she heard was she was pretty sure was her name with a lot more syllables that usual and released her wife’s clit to move her tongue around Willow’s folds, gathering the warm liquid that was freely flowing from them.   
  
  
She continued to gently lap until Willow’s hand dropped from her head and her legs fell open in exhaustion. She slowly pulled her fingers out and sucked them clean, then gave a final languid lick to the redhead’s core and placed a kiss on her mound before moving up Willow’s spent body.  
  
  
She watched as her wife’s eyelids twitch and open momentarily, after which a big, lazy smile spread on the smaller girl’s face and she struggled but managed to open them completely.  
  
  
“There’s nothing better...than opening my eyes...and seeing your face.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly and leant down to place a lingering kiss against her wife’s cheek. She felt Willow’s smile get wider.  
  
  
“Except that.”  
  
  
Tara moved to Willow’s other cheek and pressed her lips there.  
  
  
“And that.”  
  
  
Another kiss on the redhead’s nose made her giggle.  
  
  
“And that.”  
  
  
Willow watched Tara’s eyes smile down at her before her lips were captured in a soft yet smouldering kiss for a few long moments, making her breathless all over again.  
  
  
“And definitely that...”


	37. Chapter 37

  
Tara uncrossed her legs as she lay sprawled across the sofa, using the armrest to help her kick her shoes off, hearing them fall to the floor individually as she admired the range of dresses splashed out on the pages of the magazine she was holding over her chest.  
  
  
She was enjoying the silence and solitude of some quiet reading in the late morning of that particular Saturday; being able to relax having spent the morning gardening and content knowing both her son and wife were playing on their respective laptops, though in different areas of the house; JJ lying on his bed when last she checked and Willow in the dining room.  
  
  
She had just flipped the page onto a display of purses when she felt a sudden weight flop down on top of her and raised her magazine up to see Willow lying on top of her, head turned to the side and resting on her breasts.   
  
  
“You don’t have to stop reading,” Willow piped up when she saw her wife starting to drop the magazine, “I just wanted a cuddle.”  
  
  
Tara moved the magazine back in front of her and held it with one hand while the other moved to stroke Willow’s hair.  
  
  
“Were you working?”  
  
  
“Nope,” Willow replied, “I was just browsing a Mommy-To-Be forum.”  
  
  
“You’re a Momma-To-Be. A Momma-To-Be-Again,” Tara joked, “Find anything interesting?”  
  
  
Willow sighed.  
  
  
“Nah. Nothing I didn’t already know, anyway. A lot of the women seemed like they were first-time pregnancies too so it was all ‘oh my god, I have swollen ankles too!’ and not much ‘hey, here’s what I did to get rid of them when I was pregnant’.”  
  
  
Tara lifted the magazine and looked down.  
  
  
“I thought those leg massages I learnt how to do were helping.”  
  
  
Willow raised her head with a sweet smile.  
  
  
“They are. Muchly. I was just using an example.”  
  
  
Tara seemed satisfied at that and shot a smile downwards before lowering her reading material as Willow settled her head comfortably again. They lay at ease with each other in silence for a few minutes before Tara piped up.  
  
  
“Well once we tell everyone next weekend, I’m sure you can hound Anya and Alice for some advice.”   
  
  
Willow inhaled deeply.  
  
  
“Maybe Alice,” she replied after a moment.  
  
  
“Anya went through it, too,” Tara reasoned, “Don’t be so dismissive.”  
  
  
Willow scoffed.  
  
  
“Yea, well I don’t need advice on the best sex positions with a baby bump.”  
  
  
Tara let out a chuckle and grinned behind the magazine.  
  
  
“You might in a few months.”  
  
  
Willow scowled.  
  
  
“I’m sure we can figure it out on our own.”  
  
  
“Of course we can,” Tara replied, squeezing the back of Willow’s head affectionately as she stroked her hair, before closing the magazine and reached over to slide it onto the coffee table, then moved her foot to play with Willow’s toes from where both their feet were hanging over the armrest, “Hey, lift your shirt up.”  
  
  
Willow looked over her shoulder at the door, then back up at Tara.  
  
  
“JJ’s just upstairs, but if you wanna bow-chik-a-wow-wow later when he’s in bed, then I am here for your pleasure.”  
  
  
She waggled her eyebrows suggestively but they stopped mid-shake when she saw Tara bring a hand up to her face to cover the snort of laughter coming from her mouth.  
  
  
“I, uh, just wanted to feel your belly against mine,” Tara explained before reaching down to grab a hold of Willow’s hips, “But we can definitely bow-chik-a-wow-wow later.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and averted her gaze, which just made Tara burst into laughter again.  
  
  
“Bow-chik-a-wow-wow?” she asked, giggling as she pulled Willows hips down and pushed her own up to meet them, “Bow. Chik-a. Wow. Wow.”  
  
  
“Yea, alright,” Willow rolled her eyes, embarrassed, and tried to change the subject, “Did you want to feel my stomach or not?”  
  
  
Tara pursed her lips to stop the laugher from coming out and nodded.  
  
  
“Yes. Please.”  
  
  
Willow eyed Tara momentarily to make sure the sniggering had stopped, and though she could still the blonde’s eyes shining with amusement, she could also see her wife holding back to save her embarrassment. She offered a small smile and reached down to pull her shirt up to just below her bra and pushed the fabric of Tara’s blouse too so her slightly-swelled stomach rested on her wife’s flat one.  
  
  
“Hey, this is nice,” she said in surprise as she felt a kind of warm energy pass between them, “Womb-to-womb.”   
  
  
Tara glanced down between their bodies and had to nod in agreement but her attention was pulled up as Willow continued.  
  
  
“Mine which bears the...fruit of your loins and yours which...”  
  
  
Tara looked on at her wife, curious as to how she was going to describe that decidedly empty part of her and watched the redhead squint in thought for a few moments before beaming as she decided on the right words.  
  
  
“The surrounding area thereof is where our child began its creation.”  
  
  
Tara didn’t dare laugh again but allowed herself to smile and brought a hand up to brush the back of her fingers against Willow’s cheek.  
  
  
“I love how you mind works.”  
  
  
“It’s been working like a hormonal recipe of moodiness and forgetfulness lately,” Willow replied with a sigh before her statement suddenly triggered a memory and her eyes widened as her hand moved up to cover her mouth, “Oh! Crap!”  
  
  
Tara snatched her hand back in alarm and grabbed Willow’s shoulders.  
  
  
“What? What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”  
  
  
“No, no, baby’s okay. Baby’s okay,” Willow reassured as she looked guilty, “I forgot to tell you something.”  
  
  
Tara moved her hands down to cover her face and visibly exhaled into them before dropping them again, moving one hand under her head to rest on it.  
  
  
“Okay honey, that’s okay. Don’t give me a heart attack next time. What’s up?”  
  
  
Willow opened and closed her mouth a few times as she pondered how to phrase what she needed to, and had meant to the night before, without causing her wife alarm again. After a moment, she shrugged one shoulder and tried to sound nonchalant.   
  
  
“The landlord called me the other day.”  
  
  
“He did?” Tara asked, her brow creasing, “Was there a problem with our rent this month? I didn’t check but there should be more than enough money in our checking account. A lot more. Did one of our salaries not go through?”  
  
  
Willow just shook her head.  
  
  
“No, I check all of our accounts at the end of the week. Rent went out just fine.”  
  
  
Tara looked at her wife expectantly but when Willow just bit the side of her lip, she tried to offer up her own explanation, possible realisation crossing her face after a moment.  
  
  
“Oh, our lease is up at the end of the month. He must need us to sign the renewal.”  
  
  
“That...is what he called about,” Willow confirmed cautiously, “Um, kinda.”  
  
  
Tara gestured with the hand not resting behind her head.  
  
  
“Willow, just spit it out.”  
  
  
Willow puffed out a breath.  
  
  
“He’s selling the house.”  
  
  
Tara’s mouth instantly dropped in shock and her body shot up straight, inadvertently pushing Willow off of her as her hands moved around waved around her in stunned surprise.  
  
  
“What?!” she eventually managed, in as close to a yell as she’d ever let out, “What?! How could you not tell me this? And don’t you dare blame baby brain, Willow, you can’t just ‘be fuzzy’ when it comes to losing our house!”  
  
  
“Hey, you don’t know what it’s like,” Willow defended, crossing her arms over her chest, “And I was going to tell you last night after I put JJ to bed so we could talk but then you jumped me outside his room!”  
  
  
“You weren’t complaining last night,” Tara shot back before hanging her head in her hands.  
  
  
“I’m not complaining now,” Willow hissed before holding her hands up in surrender, “This is ridiculous, why are we turning this into a fight?”  
  
  
Tara sat back against the sofa and rubbed her temples.  
  
  
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled through her hands before dropping them and looking at her wife, “I’m sorry.”   
  
  
She saw Willow offer a small smile and gave as much as one as she could back before her hand moved up to her face in anxiety again.  
  
  
“This couldn’t possibly come at a worse time. We’ll have to move JJ in the middle of the school year, and we’re going to need to find somewhere in the district because it’s not fair on him to have to start a whole new school. And your Dad and Michelle, the house reason they bought that house was to be close to us. And you’re pregnant, god you’re pregnant, we have a son and a baby on the way...” she trailed off, her eyes narrowed in obvious worry before they flashed with annoyance when she saw Willow was grinning, “And I’m trying not to turn this into a fight but what the hell is so amusing?”  
  
  
Willow made no effort to lose her grin and shuffled closer to the blonde.  
  
  
“That _you’re_ freaking out and not seeing the obvious solution, and that _I’m_ the cool, collected and rational one for once,” she replied, moving one hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her wife’s ear.  
  
  
Tara couldn’t help but feel comforted as Willow’s fingers grazed her cheek, but shock and concern were still the overwhelming emotions rising in her.  
  
  
“Well, Willow, feel free to inform me of this wonderful, _obvious_ solution.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her hand and took Tara’s in her lap.  
  
  
“Well, _Tara_ ,” she started before her grin got more excited and she leant towards her wife as if she was revealing a huge secret, “We can buy the house.”  
  
  
Tara’s head snapped back in place in surprise at the suggestion and her eyelids blinked numerous times as she tried to process.  
  
  
“Oh,” she replied after several moments of silence before it appeared as if the whole idea apparently dawned on her and she grabbed Willow’s hand in her lap excitedly, “Oh!”  
  
  
“Yes, oh! The landlord said we’ve been model tenants, so he said he’d give us first refusal if we met his asking price,” Willow responded, her grin stretching from ear-to-ear, “Whaddya say, wifey, wanna buy a house with me?”  
  
  
“Of course I want to buy a house with you,” Tara replied, holding their conjoined hands against her heart before biting her lip in contemplation, “Are we ready for that?”  
  
  
Willow visibly did a double-take and shot her wife a look of disbelief.  
  
  
“Oh I’m sorry, I mistook the marriage and children as signs of commitment.”  
  
  
Tara looked at Willow as if to say ‘did you really think I meant that?’ and shook her head.  
  
  
“I meant financially. What’s the asking price?”  
  
  
“Affordable,” Willow answered.  
  
  
Tara still looked concerned.  
  
  
“We’re going to have a newborn in six months.”  
  
  
“A newborn who needs a nursery. In a house,” Willow replied, “Securing a deposit _would_ put quite a dent in our savings. _But_ no more than if we hadn’t managed to get pregnant first time ‘round and had to go through more IVF cycles. Point is, we _can_ afford it. That’s why I waited a couple of days to tell you, so I could work out the financials before worrying you.”  
  
  
The side of Tara’s lips quirked up at that.  
  
  
“I’m supposed to be making _your_ life less stressful.”  
  
  
“You do,” Willow replied, bringing Tara’s hand up to her mouth and kissing her knuckles, “Besides, you know me and spreadsheets. It was fun.”  
  
  
Tara smiled affectionately.  
  
  
“Okay, well, we’ll have to go to the bank and...” she trailed off as she recognised the look of faux-innocence on her wife’s face, “You’ve already been, haven’t you?”  
  
  
“Just to see what our options were,” Willow explained quickly, “If we could even... And we can. I got some advice from accounting people at work and figured out the best possible mortgage for us. Repayments would basically be the same as what we pay for rent now. But you know, we’d actually own the house. And I talked to the bank manager and he said they would have no issue lending to us.”  
  
  
Tara looked slightly amused.  
  
  
“Do you even need me at all to buy this house with you?”  
  
  
“Well I’ll need your signature,” Willow replied deadpan, before grinning and pulling Tara into an embrace so the blonde was lying between her legs, “Of course I need you. Without you, this would just be bricks and mortar. With you, it’s our home.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“It’s always been our home.”  
  
  
“It has,” Willow agreed, moving to rest her chin on her wife’s shoulder, “And now it will be the home we have total control over. That we can...paint whatever color we like. That we can convert the attic into a bedroom for JJ if we decide to have more kids. That we could...hey, that we could build an en-suite on for ourselves!”  
  
  
Tara turned her head towards Willow, her eyes lit up.  
  
  
“Ooh, I like that idea.”  
  
  
“That’s definitely happening when we cushion up the savings again,” Willow replied as she stroked her hand down Tara’s arm and started to play with her fingers, her tone becoming wistful, “That we can watch our children grow up in.”  
  
  
Tara inhaled deeply and smiled.  
  
  
“Celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.”  
  
  
Willow nuzzled her cheek against Tara’s.  
  
  
“Celebrate every day together between now and then.”  
  
  
Tara turned her hand in Willow’s so their fingers entwined.  
  
  
“Grow old together.”  
  
  
Willow murmured a sound of agreement and leant down to press a kiss into her wife’s neck. She felt Tara turn towards her and lifted her head so their lips met. They kissed, smiling against each other for several moments until Willow pulled away, her tongue sticking out between her teeth excitedly.  
  
  
“We’re buying a house.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and nodded.  
  
  
“I know.”  
  
  
Willow’s smile beamed and she squeezed Tara’s midsection tightly.  
  
  
“This is gonna be our home. Forever.”


	38. Chapter 38

  
  
Tara leant over the island in the kitchen, inhaling the wafting aroma from the cup of coffee her hands were securely tightened around; her eyes closing for a moment in exhaustion from the early start she’d had that morning to start on some pre-party cooking for their anniversary soiree that afternoon.  
  
  
She took a generous gulp of the dark liquid, her lids continuing to flutter open and closed until she spotted Willow walking through the doorway and straightened up in an instant; any sense of tiredness or being weary leaving her completely in place of a tingle of attraction down her spine and a thumping heart in her chest.  
  
  
“Hel-lo,” she said, elongating the syllables unintentionally as Willow walked towards her, then taking the redhead’s hand when she reached her and spinning her in place.  
  
  
“Oh!” Willow yelped at the surprise move, then giggled as Tara caught a hold of her waist, “Hi.”  
  
  
Tara held her wife at arm’s length and admired her form, nodding in appreciation of the article of clothing she’d opted to don; a wide-strapped, fitted purple jersey dress that had an empire silhouette highlighted by a white stripe around the high waistline with another stripe around the hem, the fabric falling to her knees.  
  
  
When Tara was finished openly leering, she grabbed Willow’s hips and pulled their bodies together.  
  
  
“You’re looking particularly gorgeous today.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied with a bashful smile, looking down at herself, “Do you like the dress? It’s not too early to get into it, is it? The house is all clean and there’s not really much to set up. I mean, we’re keeping it casual, right?”  
  
  
Tara took a moment to process the slur of questions before giving a definitive nod.  
  
  
“Okay, let me see if I can get this in the right order. I love the dress,” she started before giving the redhead a crooked smile and lowering her voice, “I can’t wait to take it off you.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and smiled before Tara suddenly dropped her hands and started walking away from her.  
  
  
“In fact, you know I think I might just have something to finish it off.”  
  
  
Willow’s face creased in confusion as Tara disappeared into the foyer and returned moments later, carrying a square-shaped box with a bow on top.  
  
  
“Tara no, we said the spa and nice dinner was our present to each other!” Willow said in response to seeing it, “I didn’t get you anything!”  
  
  
“You’re giving me a baby,” Tara replied as she walked back towards her wife, “Besides, this is for both of us.”  
  
  
“Ohhhh,” Willow replied, a knowing grin spreading on her face as she thought she knew what was in the box, “ _That_ kinda present. You probably shouldn’t give it to me here in case you-know-little-who walks in.”  
  
  
Tara sniggered and shook her head as she stood next to Willow near the island again.  
  
  
“Not _that_ kind of present. Get your mind out of the gutter.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Willow replied, flushing again in embarrassment, “Well if you say a present for both of us, what the hell else am I supposed to think?”  
  
  
Tara popped the lid on the box to reveal what was really inside.  
  
  
“Matching necklaces.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her gaze to the two silver chains, overlapping with each other on the velvet surface they were lying on, with a hollow, heart-shaped pendant hanging off the end of both of them. The heart was covered in tiny, shining gems; a mix of deep red and silver, glinting in the sunlight that was shining in from the glass doors to the backyard. She moved her hand so each pendant was under her palm and traced a finger around the heart.  
  
  
“Oh my god, these are so pretty.”  
  
  
“The red is garnet,” Tara explained as Willow admired the jewellery, “My birthstone. And then the–”  
  
  
“Diamonds. My birth stone,” Willow finished before squealing excitedly, “I love them! Put mine on, put mine on!”  
  
  
She turned so her back was to Tara and gathered her hair up. A moment later she felt the chain fall around her neck and let her hair fall again when she felt it being secured. She turned back around to face her wife and looked down to make sure it was sitting right before grabbing the box from where Tara had left it on the island.  
  
  
“Your turn!”  
  
  
Tara dutifully turned and gathered her hair like Willow so the redhead could clasp the second necklace on her. Once fastened, she turned back around and saw Willow’s face instantly break out in a wide smile.  
  
  
“They’re perfect,” Willow beamed before throwing her arms around Tara’s neck and kissing her soundly on the mouth.  
  
  
She felt Tara’s hands come to rest on her hips and continued kissing her for several moments before eventually pulling back.   
  
  
“Now, where were we? Ah yes, you were wondering if it was too early for you to get changed,” Tara said after a minute, pretending to contemplate, before offering a warm smile, “It is never the wrong time for you to look that beautiful.”   
  
  
Willow’s cheeks flushed and she moved her head down to rest on her wife’s shoulder to hide them.  
  
  
“Stop making me blush, you know I hate it.”  
  
  
“But you make it so easy,” Tara replied through an obviously grinning voice, “And to finish off your questions, all we have to do is put some food on the table closer to the time everyone arrives, so yes, very casual. I made some finger food and a couple of lasagnes if people wanted something more.”  
  
  
“I can smell the oregano,” Willow responded, looking over Tara’s shoulder to the array of covered plates sitting on the countertop, “And lots of other things too. Our house smells like a delicious blend of spices and pastry.”  
  
  
“That about sums up what I cooked,” Tara answered before pulling Willow away from her again and looking her up and down, “That really is a dazzling dress.”   
  
  
Willow gave a shy smile and started a slow spin in place. Tara admired her wife’s turning form until the redhead stopped again and for the first time noticed the pulling in of the fabric at her waist made the baby bump stand out, a distinct contrast to everything else Willow had been wearing recently to cover it up. She grinned and put on a southern accent.  
  
  
“Why, Mrs. Rosenberg–Maclay, do I see that you’re with child?”  
  
  
“Why, yes, Miss Tara, I am,” Willow replied in the same accent before giggling and going back to her normal voice, “I was gonna wear a sweatshirt and then when we told everyone, I’d take it off and be like ‘hey, surprise!’”  
  
  
“Surprise indeed,” Tara responded and was about to lean down to pop a kiss on her wife’s lips when the shrill sound of the doorbell thwarted her efforts, “Will you get that?”  
  
  
“Yep!” Willow replied cheerily and started to bounce from the room.  
  
  
Tara watched her leave with an adoring smile before moving over to pick up the cup of coffee she’d abandoned when Willow had first walked in the room. She didn’t register the lack of heat against her hands through the ceramic as she picked it up and took a sip, only to gag as the ice-cold coffee got stuck in her throat.  
  
  
“I’m pretty sure the mailman was checking me out,” Willow’s voice rang throughout the room as she walked back in, looking through the collection of envelopes she’d just been given, using a flat brown package at the back to hold them against.  
  
  
“Can’t blame him,” Tara replied as she poured the offending liquid from her mug down the sink, “As long as he was just looking.”  
  
  
“No, I let him have a quick squeeze before he went next door,” Willow replied deadpan, looking up from the mail, “I don’t think we’ll need to tip him next Christmas.”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes playfully.  
  
  
“You’re hilarious, you know that?”  
  
  
“I know, I should pack in this whole FBI business and become a comedian,” Willow responded as she set the mail down on the island and picked up a long, brown envelope from the top, waving it between her hands and continuing in a sing-song voice, “Look what I have...”  
  
  
“A brown envelope?” Tara asked with mock enthusiasm, “Gee, wow!”  
  
  
Willow folded her arms over her chest, holding the envelope under them.  
  
  
“You know something, you need to learn to communicate without the need for sarcasm.”  
  
  
Tara’s lips quirked into a half-smile.  
  
  
“I love you,” she replied in a tone that somehow managed to be both sarcastic and genuine at the same time.  
  
  
She watched as Willow tried to stay firm but it only took a few seconds for the uncontainable grin to break out on her face, her arms dropping, the envelope in one hand as she dropped her gaze. After another moment, she raised her head and Tara could see her cheeks were flushed, making her grin that she could fluster her wife so much just by saying those three little words.  
  
  
“I told you to stop making me blush,” Willow tried to warn but her tone lacked the cautionary conviction it needed since she was still trying to hide a grin.  
  
  
Tara held up her hands in surrender before gesturing towards her wife.  
  
  
“Okay, then, tell me about this envelope. What’s so special about it?”  
  
  
Willow pushed herself onto a stool and turned the packet in her hands.  
  
  
“It is special because it’s an envelope that I’m pretty sure contains...” she started, pausing for a moment as she tore the top off and pulled the papers inside out; beaming when her suspicions were confirmed and turning them around to show her wife, “The deeds to our house.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes widened and she moved over to stand in front of Willow, scanning the front of documents her wife was presenting to her, her face lighting up as she saw the culmination of all of the formalities they’d gone through, though relatively quickly, had still been arduous. She went to lean her head down to kiss the redhead in celebration but found her lips met with paper.  
  
  
She pulled back in confusion and saw Willow covering the lower half of her face with the documents, her eyes peeking out above them.  
  
  
“Say sorry.”  
  
  
Tara exhaled and offered a soft smile.  
  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
  
Willow seemed to accept that but made no move to lower the papers.  
  
  
“Say you’ll never make me blush again.”  
  
  
Tara just grinned and shook her head ‘no’.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes shone with defiance.  
  
  
“Well then no kiss for you.”  
  
  
“You sure?” Tara asked sweetly, “Because I’d really like to kiss you.”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow replied stubbornly, “I won’t give in.”  
  
  
Tara moved her hand behind Willow’s, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Willow closed her eyes and shook her head.  
  
  
“Futile effort, Tara.”  
  
  
She felt her wife’s hand drop away from her face and was about to voice a sound of triumph but had to quickly shut her mouth to stop a moan from coming through when she felt lips brush over the curve of her ear.  
  
  
“I’m serious.”  
  
  
Her voice was starting to crack and her hands were dropping, little by little.  
  
  
“I’m not...I won’t...” she tried to protest but her resolve was crumbling in a matter of nano-seconds until she finally dropped the papers onto the island and grabbed the back of Tara’s neck, pulling their faces together, “Kiss me.”  
  
  
Tara scrunched her nose up in victory and closed the small gap, her hands moving to Willow’s waist so her fingers splayed out across her lower back through the fabric of her dress. She sucked Willow’s bottom lip between hers and felt the arms tighten around her neck.   
  
  
When they pulled apart, Willow inhaled deeply and slowly puffed out the breath.  
  
  
“I don’t know how I feel about you having so much control over me.”  
  
  
Tara grinned.  
  
  
“You love it.”  
  
  
Willow grinned as well.  
  
  
“Oh yea.”  
  
  
“Oh yea,” Tara giggled before dropping another quick kiss on her wife’s lips, then picking up the papers to look through them, “So much paperwork and signatures and figures for this. We had to fill out more forms to buy this house than we did to get JJ.”  
  
  
“Took a lot less time though,” Willow responded, her voice becoming coy, “And I may have...persuaded the county system to want to process things a lot faster.”  
  
  
Tara shot her wife a look saying ‘I don’t want to know’ before clapping her hands excitedly and spinning around, gesturing around herself.  
  
  
“It’s all ours. Officially.”  
  
  
“Technically, it’s the bank’s for the next 15 years,” Willow replied before Tara shot her another look and she clapped as well, “I mean, yay, it’s ours!”  
  
  
Tara just smiled and moved to wrap her arms around Willow’s shoulders.  
  
  
“C’mere, you,” she said lovingly, placing a kiss on top of her hair before giving a small laugh, “You know, we found out about the baby on our wedding anniversary and now the house on this one.”  
  
  
Willow nodded into Tara’s chest before sighing.  
  
  
“Damn, we’re gonna have a lot to live up to next year.”  
  
  
Tara laughed again, louder this time and squeezed her wife just a little harder.  
  
  
“Happy anniversary, baby.”  
  
  
Willow took a moment to enjoy the fluttery sensation in her heart and the pit of her stomach at the rarely-used pet name before replying softly.  
  
  
“Happy anniversary, baby.”  
  
  
They embraced warmly for several moments before Tara pulled away and looked at the redhead curiously.  
  
  
“You haven’t had any morning sickness in last week or so, have you?”  
  
  
“Um, no,” Willow shook her head and put a hand on her stomach with a laugh, “The little one’s getting more comfortable I guess. Why?”  
  
  
Tara moved her hands back to Willow’s hips and tried to act nonchalant.  
  
  
“So, if I picked you up and spun you around the room right now, you wouldn’t be sick?”  
  
  
Willow looked terrified.  
  
  
“I want to say no just so you won’t but I don’t want to lie to you.”  
  
  
Willow gulped as Tara got a mischievous smile on her face and yelped as she was picked from the stool and held by her butt, her feet hanging off the ground as Tara twirled them around the room.  
  
  
“Put me down! Tara, put me down!   
  
  
Tara just giggled and shook her head, feeling an elated buzz going through her. She had no intention of stopping despite her wife’s now-dwindling objections as her infectious high until a quiet voice piped up from the doorway.  
  
  
“What are you doing?”  
  
  
Tara stopped but didn’t release her wife and looked over to her son, still in his pyjamas and looking thoroughly confused. Tara thought for a moment before offering a simple and true explanation.  
  
  
“Spinning.”  
  
  
JJ regarded his mothers as if they were insane before shrugging.  
  
  
“Can I have some toast?”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“I’ll bring it in to you.”  
  
  
“Thanks!” JJ beamed and scurried off to continue watching his cartoons.  
  
  
Willow watched him leave before turning her head back to her wife.  
  
  
“Can you put me down now?”  
  
  
Tara gave a cheeky smile and squeezed Willow’s butt for several seconds before lowering her hands enough for the redhead’s feet to hit the floor.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied and brushed some invisible lint from her chest while Tara moved towards the toaster.   
  
  
“Do you want some toast?”  
  
  
“No, I’m ok–” Willow started before her stomach rumbled in argument, “Yes, please.”  
  
  
Willow retook her seat on the stool and watched as Tara bounced between the refrigerator and the toaster. She couldn’t help but smile and moved to rest her head on her palm, her elbow against the island.  
  
  
“What is with you today, Miss giddy?”  
  
  
Tara pushed the lever down on the toaster and turned back around.  
  
  
“I’m happy,” she said, sauntering back over to stand by her wife, “I’m deliriously, ecstatically, quite literally jumping-for-joy happy. And it’s all because of you.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly.  
  
  
“And JJ. And the baby. And the house.”  
  
  
Tara tapped the top of Willow’s nose affectionately.  
  
  
“Wouldn’t have those if I didn’t have you.”  
  
  
“Well, I’m deliriously, ecstatically, quite literally...jumping-against-my-will-but-still-with-joy happy too,” Willow replied before shrugging, “But I’m not able to lift you in demonstration.”  
  
  
Tara put her hands on Willow’s knees.  
  
  
“You can kiss me.”  
  
  
“Yes I can,” Willow replied with a giggle and cupped the blonde’s cheeks, pulling her down for a warm smooch until the ‘pop’ of the toaster pulled them apart.  
  
  
Tara brushed her lips against Willow’s for another moment before squeezing her knees.  
  
  
“Crunchy peanut butter and sliced banana?”  
  
  
Willow flashed her teeth in a smile and nodded.  
  
  
“Love you.”  
  
  
“Love you too,” Tara replied with a kiss to the bridge of her wife’s nose.  
  
  
Willow started to flick through the other mail they’d received, leaving the bills to look at later and pushing any unsolicited envelopes to the side to trash when she got a chance.   
  
  
She gave Tara a smile when a plate with her peanut-butter-and-banana-topped slices of toast was placed in front of her and watched the blonde disappear towards the living room with a another plate of toast covered in blackberry jelly.  
  
  
She picked up the first slice and took a bite from the corner, licking her lips as the mix of sweet and salty hit her taste buds and munched down with a satisfying crunch. She finished sorting the mail and picked up the packet the envelopes had been resting on and recognised the ‘amazon.com’ logo emblazoned across it.   
  
  
She heard Tara come back into the room and held the package up in the air.  
  
  
“Hey, what did you get from amazon?”  
  
  
She felt Tara’s hand come to rest on her back and the package being plucked from her hand.  
  
  
“Oh. Oh, wow. I didn’t think this was going to come in on time.”  
  
  
Willow took another large bite of her toast and spoke through a mouthful.  
  
  
“What is it?”  
  
  
Tara swung her legs onto the stool beside Willow and held the package in both hands.  
  
  
“Something I need to talk to you about.”  
  
  
“Sounds serious,” Willow joked but her face faltered when she saw Tara look at her in confirmation, “What the hell is it, Tara, you’re making me feel like they’re divorce papers or something.”  
  
  
Tara couldn’t help a wry grin at that.  
  
  
“From amazon?”  
  
  
Willow threw her hands up in the air, obviously flustered.  
  
  
“Well they do everything else!”  
  
  
Tara reached across and took one of her wife’s hands.  
  
  
“Willow, I promise you, you will never have to know what divorce papers even look like,” she assured before taking her hand back and tearing the top of the package open, “This is a book. A kid’s book. That someone in work recommended.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes went wide.  
  
  
“I swear if it’s another damn frog...”  
  
  
“It’s not a frog,” Tara replied with a playful roll of her eyes as she slid the book out and pointed to the animal on the front, “It’s a chicken.”  
  
  
“Aww cute!” Willow replied, then picked up her toast to continue eating, her worry lessened from before, thinking her wife was just being over-cautious with her, “Tara, I know I freaked out about the frog, but you don’t need to run everything our son reads by me.”  
  
  
“Right,” Tara nodded before clearing her throat, “That...of course. The same goes for me. But this...it’s a chicken...who gets adopted by a bear.”  
  
  
Willow nodded and looked over the cover of the book.  
  
  
“Sounds cute.”  
  
  
Tara reached across to take one of Willow's hands and looked at her intently.  
  
  
“Adopted, Willow."  
  
  
Willow spluttered on her toast and dropped it back to the plate as she registered what her wife was saying, while Tara moved to rub her back. She grabbed the book from Tara's hands to have a closer look. Tara watched her eyes dart around the pages and continued to rub her back.  
  
  
“We said we were going to tell him about the baby today, before the others.”  
  
  
“Yea, definitely,” Willow said absently as she flicked through the pages, “He should know first.”  
  
  
Tara waited for her wife to stop reading, but when she didn’t after a moment, continued anyway.  
  
  
“It will raise questions. He’ll want to know if he grew in your belly too.”  
  
  
Willow’s head shot up, her eyes wary.  
  
  
“You wanna tell him he’s adopted on the same day we tell him about the baby? Isn’t that information overload?”  
  
  
Tara moved her hand up to Willow’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.  
  
  
“Well, Willow, he’s still so young, we can explain the adoption for what it is and not have it be some big shock when he’s 16. And we said we’d never lie to him about this. The issue is just coming up early with the baby.”  
  
  
She watched as Willow looked down at the book, then back up at her, her eyes filling with tears.  
  
  
“What if he doesn’t think I’m his mother?”  
  
  
Tara opened her mouth to speak but felt a ball of emotion in her throat stopping her so she stood and pulled Willow into her arms, embracing her softly and swallowing until she found herself able to speak.  
  
  
“He knows who his momma is,” she whispered, kissing her wife’s ear, “He knows exactly who his momma is.”  
  
  
Willow quietened after a few moments, then suddenly pulled away from her wife, wiping at her eyes with the heel of her palm.   
  
  
“Oh god, I don’t want him to hear me.”  
  
  
Tara moved around the island to a drawer on the other side and opened it, retrieving a pocket pack of tissues and handing one across, which Willow gratefully took. She walked back to the redhead and cupped her cheek softly.  
  
  
“If you’re not ready for this, we can–”  
  
  
“No, no, we said, we always said we’d be honest,” Willow cut the blonde off as she wiped away at the last of her tears, and took a deep breath, “He’s been my boy since the day he was born, nothing can take that away.”  
  
  
Tara took the used tissue and pushed it into her front jeans pocket before moving her hand up so she was cupping both of her wife’s cheeks.  
  
  
“Nothing will ever change the fact that we are his mothers.”  
  
  
Willow managed a small smile at the love shining at her through deep blue eyes.  
  
  
“We changed enough diapers.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and moved to press her lips against her wife’s forehead.  
  
  
“That’s my girl.”  
  
  
Willow took strength from the warmth of the kiss and gave a definitive nod to herself.  
  
  
“Okay then. Let’s go talk with him.”  
  
  
Tara still looked concerned.  
  
  
“Do you need a few minutes?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head and gave a semi-confident smile.  
  
  
“If we’re gonna do it, let’s do it now.”


	39. Chapter 39

JJ was very happily licking his fingers free of the blackberry jam from the toast he’d all but wolfed down and was giggling along with SpongeBob and Patrick when he suddenly found himself sandwiched on the sofa with a mother either side of him.   
  
  
His eyes went wide with fear.  
  
  
“I didn’t do it!”  
  
  
Willow and Tara exchanged a look and Tara looked down at the boy enquiringly.  
  
  
“Didn’t do what?”  
  
  
JJ held his hands up and shrugged.  
  
  
“I don’t know ‘cause I didn’t do it!”  
  
  
“You’re not in trouble, buddy,” Willow laughed as she picked up the remote from between JJ’s legs and turned the television off, “We just wanted...to read a book with you.”  
  
  
Tara held up the book in indication and JJ reached for it, examining the cover.  
  
  
“Is it for school?”  
  
  
“Nope, not for school,” Willow replied as casually as she could, “Just for...fun.”  
  
  
JJ shrugged.  
  
  
“Okay. Reading’s fun.”  
  
  
“Isn’t it?” Willow responded enthusiastically, forgetting for a moment the purpose of this particular reading session, “Don’t you just love seeing how a story unfolds and learning a bunch of new words?”  
  
  
JJ looked up at his redheaded mother innocently.  
  
  
“I like the pictures.”  
  
  
Willow noticed Tara shooting her a crooked grin at her small outburst and pulled JJ onto her lap, shuffling over on the sofa to Tara so they were squashed up close together.  
  
  
“Well they’re great too,” she agreed with her son, pointing to the cover of the book, “And look at this little guy, isn’t he cute?”  
  
  
“It’s a chickie!” JJ exclaimed, slapping his hands against the book, “They come from chickens!”  
  
  
“Well, yes,” Willow started, seeing an opportunity to start the lesson, “They come from chickens, but some, sometimes they don’t have a chicken as a mom.”  
  
  
JJ looked bewildered at that seemingly bizarre statement and Willow swallowed a few times and turned to Tara, who just smiled encouragingly and wrapped her arm around the redhead’s shoulders. Willow felt a comforting squeeze on her shoulder and reached down to turn the cover of the book over.  
  
  
“Let’s read the story,” she said, turning to the first page, depicting a baby chick, alone amongst strands of grass, “Choco was a little bird, who lived all alone. He wished he had a mother. But who could his mother be? One day, he set off to find her.”  
  
  
JJ seemed instantly captivated by the quest of the chick to find its mother, first in a giraffe, then a penguin, then a grumpy walrus who all denied him, before finally finding Mrs. Bear, who hugged, and kissed, and sang with him just like a mother would and brought him home to her other children, a baby gator, a baby hippo and a baby pig.  
  
  
“Mrs. Bear gave all her children a big, warm bear hug,” Tara read the last page, having taking over the reading halfway through, “And Choco was very happy his new mommy looked just the way she did.”  
  
  
Tara finished reading and JJ held onto the book, flicking through the pages to look at the pictures again.  
  
  
“Cool story, huh?” Willow asked, trying to hide the fear in her voice of the conversation that was to follow.  
  
  
“Uh huh. I’m glad the chickie found his Momma Bear,” JJ nodded before flashing a toothy grin up at Willow, “Like you’re my Momma Bear.”  
  
  
Tara saw Willow’s face start to crumple and quickly plucked JJ into her lap to distract him, while holding Willow’s hand firmly off to the side and squeezing in comfort.  
  
  
“Exactly like your Momma,” she said to JJ as she looked down at him, “You see, the little chickie was adopted into the bear family. That means that even though he didn’t come from the bear, the bear was still his mother.”  
  
  
JJ nodded, understanding the premise of the story and Tara seized the moment to push ahead.  
  
  
“We wanted to read this story with you, JJ, because you see, you’re like the little chick too.”  
  
  
JJ peered down at the baby chick on the pages on his lap and back up at Tara.  
  
  
“I’m Choco?”  
  
  
“Because you didn’t come from me or Momma,” Tara explained softly and slowly, “But we’re still your moms.”   
  
  
Tara could see JJ was struggling to understand and pointed to the book.  
  
  
“We adopted you like Mrs. Bear adopted Choco because we love you so much.”  
  
  
“Oh,” JJ replied easily, the concept becoming clearer in his mind, “Was I lost in a forest? I don’t ‘member.”  
  
  
Willow finally found her emotional build-up that was stopping her from speaking cleared in that moment and wiped the few tears that had formed from her eyes with a laugh then moved her hand down to brush some hair from the boy’s forehead.  
  
  
“Well, you were kind of lost. At a hospital. And Mommy found you. And then she brought you home so you could be our son.”  
  
  
“Oh,” JJ replied again, casually, “Cool.”  
  
  
“Do you understand what all of this means?” Tara asked.  
  
  
JJ nodded and looked between his two mothers.  
  
  
“I’m Choco and you love me like Mrs. Bear loved Choco.”   
  
  
“Yes. Yes, exactly,” Willow replied, feeling another surge of emotion and picking JJ up, hugging him to her front, “We love you to the moon and the stars.”  
  
  
“And back again,” Tara continued softly, rubbing a hand down her son’s back, “Honey, do you have any questions? Are you confused about anything?”  
  
  
JJ seemed to think for a few moments, then shrugged and shook his head. Tara leant over and pressed a kiss to his forehead.  
  
  
“If you ever do have questions, you can ask me or Momma. Anything.”  
  
  
“Okay,” JJ agreed before looking over his shoulder at the TV, “Can I watch SpongeBob now?”  
  
  
“Um, in just a few minutes. There’s one more thing we wanted to talk about,” Willow responded before giggling when JJ looked terrified again, “And it’s nothing you’re in trouble for.”  
  
  
JJ looked between the women expectantly and Willow and Tara suddenly realised they hadn’t discussed how to approach the baby reveal. They communicated silently for a few moments before Tara gestured for Willow to take the lead. Willow’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shaped as she tried to form the right words before eventually speaking.  
  
  
“Well, we...me and your Mommy...and well, you as well...we’re...  
  
  
Willow trailed off feebly and looked to Tara for help. Tara nodded that she’d take over and smiled at the other two.  
  
  
“We’re... going to have a baby.”  
  
  
JJ looked like he was waiting for the punch line of a joke and there was a silence before Tara spoke.  
  
  
“A baby,” she repeated, then further explained when she was met with the same blank look, “You’re going to be a big brother.”  
  
  
“Really?” JJ asked, excitedly droppings his ‘r’.  
  
  
“Really,” Willow confirmed with a wide smile, “How do you feel about that?”  
  
  
JJ bounced up and down in Willow’s lap.  
  
  
“Cool! Where’s the baby??”  
  
  
“Well it’s not here yet,” Willow started to explain but couldn’t continue as JJ starting firing questions.  
  
  
“Is it lost like I was? Is the baby gonna be alockted too? Do you need me to help you find it?”  
  
  
“Adopted, honey,” Tara corrected gently with a smile, “And that’s very sweet. We don’t need you to help find the baby, but we will need your help when he or she gets here. ‘Cause right now, it’s in Momma’s belly.”   
  
  
JJ looked down at Willow’s stomach and turned his head in scepticism.   
  
  
“How’d it get in there?”  
  
  
“Um, well…” Willow started, at a loss for words for a moment before venturing with, “Mommy put one of her eggs in me.”  
  
  
She looked to Tara for confirmation that that was an okay explanation who just shrugged; it was accurate, even if JJ was going to interpret a little different than reality.  
  
  
“Mommy put an egg in you and now there’s a baby in there?” JJ asked in uncertainty, continuing to stare at Willow’s stomach, “I don’t see it.”  
  
  
Willow looked down at her stomach and contemplated for a moment before pulling at the sides of her dress so it stretched out across the bump, enabling JJ to see the pronounced outline easier. The boy continued to stare down for a moment before placing both of his small hands on his mother’s stomach and feeling around. Willow let him investigate for himself for a minute or two before speaking.  
  
  
“It’s a teeny tiny little baby right now, but it’s in there. Your little brother or sister.”  
  
  
JJ looked like he was trying to figure out the size before giving up and asking.  
  
  
“How big?”  
  
  
Willow spaced two fingers about 3 inches apart and JJ’s eyes widened.  
  
  
“That’s very small,” he said, matter-of-fact, “Does it have a head?”  
  
  
“Wait right there,” Tara replied and quickly rushed over to the other side of the room where her purse was lying on the floor. She rooted through it for a few moments until she located the picture of the scan from their latest ultrasound and went to sit again, handing JJ the print-out.  
  
  
“That’s the baby,” Willow explained and started to point out different areas, “That’s the baby’s head...and the little legs...and can you see the little fingers?  
  
  
“Oh yea,” JJ replied, holding the scan picture up close to his face and turning it at different angles, “They can take pictures inside your belly?!”  
  
  
“They use a special machine to see inside,” Tara explained, “It's not like a regular camera, that's why the picture is fuzzy.”  
  
  
JJ seemed impressed by that latest piece of information and continued to examine the scan before another question came to mind.  
  
  
“Is it a boy or a girl?”  
  
  
“Uh, we don’t know yet,” Willow replied, holding her hands to her stomach, “It’s still too tiny to tell.”  
  
  
“Oh,” JJ replied, a little disappointed that he didn’t know whether a brother or sister was coming his way, “When is it coming out of Momma’s belly?”  
  
  
“A long time,” Tara answered with a look of regret on her face. “6 months.”  
  
  
JJ began to pout.  
  
  
“That’s forever.”  
  
  
“I know. I really wanna see the baby too,” Tara replied, looking down lovingly at the print-out in JJ’s hands, “But it has to grow big and strong first.”  
  
  
JJ seemed to resign himself to the long wait ahead but had another question.  
  
  
“Will it play with me?”  
  
  
“Not straight away,” Tara shook her head making JJ scowl, “Remember when Aunty Alice had Ella? How little and tiny she was? But now she plays blocks with you and Alex sometimes and with Play-Doh.”  
  
  
JJ rolled his eyes and cross his arms over his chest; Tara plucking the scan photo from him so he didn’t crumple it.  
  
  
“She tries to eat it.”  
  
  
“And you stop her,” Willow replied, lovingly tapping her son’s nose, “You’re gonna be the best big brother.”  
  
  
JJ gave a pleased grin then and Tara patted his hair.  
  
  
“You know something, we haven’t told anyone else about the baby. You’re the very first one.”  
  
  
“I am?” JJ asked, his eyes wide.  
  
  
“Uh huh. We’re gonna tell Grandpa and Grandma and everyone else later at the party. So until we say so, you have to shush okay?” Willow said, holding a finger over her lips in indication, “It’s our secret.”  
  
  
JJ mimicked locking his lips with a key before shaking his head.  
  
  
“Not a party though.”  
  
  
Tara smiled lovingly, thinking the boy didn’t understand the reason for their party.  
  
  
“Yes, it is, honey. For our anniversary.”  
  
  
JJ shook his head in defiance, refusing to call the gathering later that evening a ‘party’ as his joy over the prospect had been swiftly diminished when he found out there was no fun laser-tag-type activities, no party hats and much to his disgust, no cake.  
  
  
“Not a party if there’s no cake.”  
  
  
Willow laughed and she pulled JJ to her, plastering kisses all over his face.  
  
  
“You know what, sweetie pie, you are a very important part of this family and you’re a part of our anniversary. So if you want a cake, we’ll have a cake.”  
  
  
JJ’s whole face lit up and he leapt from the sofa, jumping around the room and throwing triumphant punches in the air.  
  
  
“Mommy will bake one!” Willow continued, giggling at her son’s antics but stopped and cleared her throat when she got an ‘are-you-kidding-me look’ from her wife, “I will go to the store and buy one!”  
  
  
Tara mouthed the word ‘better’ while Willow mouthed ‘sorry’, flashing a cute smile until she saw the blonde’s eyes soften in forgiveness and threw a wink in her direction before scooting forwards on the sofa and trying to get her son’s attention.  
  
  
“JJ. JJ. Jake. Jakey, calm down,” she said, pulling him to a halt as he bounded past her. She waited for him to give her his full attention before speaking in a clear and tender tone, “You know, the baby, and you, we love you both the same? We love you both more than anything. You’re both our children. Do you understand what I’m saying?”  
  
  
JJ gave a definitive nod.  
  
  
“Like Mrs. Bear’s other children, Hippy and Allie and Piggie! They’re Choco’s brothers! And if Mrs. Bear had a baby bear, they’d all be brothers too!” he exclaimed proudly that he had been able to think of a scenario fitting of his new animal friends before he jumped at Willow’s feet, “Can I come to the store with you?”  
  
  
“You sure can,” Willow replied warmly, “Go brush your teeth and pick out the clothes you want to wear and I’ll be up in a few minutes to see if you need any help.”  
  
  
JJ jumped up and down in place as Willow was speaking then dashed out of the room once he had the clear instructions in his head. Willow waited until she heard pounding feet on the staircase before grabbing her surprised wife’s cheeks and planting a firm kiss on her mouth. She pushed Tara’s cheeks in so her lips puckered and pulled away for a moment with a gleeful grin.  
  
  
“You are perfect.”  
  
  
She pursed her lips against Tara’s puckered ones again with a loud ‘mwah’ before slapping her hands against her knees in delight.  
  
  
“This book is the best thing you ever purchased,” she gushed, picking up the book from alongside them and turning it over to read the back, “Who’s the author? I could totally find their home address so we can write them and say th–”  
  
  
“Okay, sweetie, let’s talk about imposing on people’s personal freedom later,” Tara cut the redhead off and took the book from her, and leaned over to slide it onto the coffee table, then put both of her hands in Willow’s ,“That went well.”  
  
  
“It really did, didn’t it?” Willow replied, keenly lifting Tara’s hands up a bit in her lap and squeezing them before her brow creased in thought, “I thought he’d have more questions.”  
  
  
Tara nodded gently.  
  
  
“He will. When he’s older and understands the process more. Or...if other children tell him things. Or even in a day or two when he starts to think more about everything we told him. As long as he knows he can come to us for the right answers.”  
  
  
Willow looked slightly troubled.  
  
  
“We don’t have all the answers. It’s not like he was a standard adoption case.”  
  
  
“No. But...” Tara trailed off before one shoulder shrugged, “We’ll just be as honest as we can. Age appropriately.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and gave a short nod of agreement before dropping Tara’s hands and pulling her into a hug.  
  
  
“You’re the best mom,” she whispered and heard her wife whisper back a moment later.  
  
  
“It’s a tie.”  
  
  
Tara felt Willow squeeze her tighter and started to squeeze back but heard Willow speak up first.  
  
  
“You’d be sexy as hell in a tie.”  
  
  
Tara sighed but couldn’t help a small smile.  
  
  
“We were having a moment.”  
  
  
“Right, sorry,” Willow replied quickly, “Best mom...”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and finished the squeeze she had started before. She felt Willow kiss her ear before they separated and the redhead clapped her hands together.  
  
  
“What kinda cake do you want?”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife a pointed look.  
  
  
“As long as I’m not baking it, I don’t care.”  
  
  
“Heh,” Willow laughed nervously and cleared her throat, “I’ll let JJ decide. I better go help him reach his underwear so he doesn’t go commando and we almost have a pee-pee-in-the-zipper scenario again.”  
  
  
She stood up and started to walk towards the door, but Tara grabbed her hand as she passed and made her stop in place.  
  
  
“Look at the time.”  
  
  
Willow glanced over at the clock above the fireplace worriedly, thinking she maybe didn’t have enough time to get to the store before people were due to arrive and would have to disappoint her son but it only read 12:20pm, hours before even the first guest would ring the doorbell.  
  
  
“Baby, we have a bunch of ti–” she started to say before she realised why her wife had told her to look, “12:20. That, ah...that sounds right about the time...”  
  
  
Tara just smiled and nodded and wrapped her arms around Willow’s waist as the redhead climbed onto her lap. Willow rested her palms flat beneath the blonde’s shoulders and smiled widely.   
  
  
“Well then, my sweet, I offer you our...incalculable numbered kiss exactly 11 years after I gave you our first.”  
  
  
Willow was just about to lower her head when Tara spoke up.  
  
  
“ _I_ gave _you_ our first.”  
  
  
Willow sat back, affronted.  
  
  
“Well I initiated the whole thing.”  
  
  
“And I thank the universe for my gutsy girl every day,” Tara replied and pulled on the redhead’s hips, “Now lay some sugar on me.”  
  
  
Willow stayed stoic for another moment before grinning goofily.  
  
  
“Okay.”  
  
  
She dropped her head and pressed her lips warmly against Tara’s, lingering for the next minute before starting to pull away, but Tara put a finger under her chin to keep her close, whispering through a grin.  
  
  
“We used tongue during our first kiss.”  
  
  
“So we did,” Willow giggled and let her lips be pulled back down and pushed apart by an eager tongue.  
  
  
She played with her wife’s tongue with a lot more boldness than she had during that reminisced kiss eleven years ago until she felt Tara’s hands start to fall behind and take a squeeze of her rear. She pulled away from the kiss and took Tara’s hands away with a shake of her head.  
  
  
“You didn’t touch my butt for at least two, three weeks.”  
  
  
“Is that how you want to play it?” Tara asked with a grin, then shrugged, “Guess we’re not having sex for the next two months then.”  
  
  
“Let’s not get crazy,” Willow giggled and dropped another sweet kiss on her wife’s lips, then nuzzling their noses together, “Happy anniversary.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Hey Willow, nice sweater,” Buffy called out to the redhead on her way towards the dining room where the food was laid out, “Where’d you buy?”  
  
  
“Banana Republic,” Willow called back, moving towards the front door, the doorbell having rung a few moments before, “40% off.”  
  
  
“Ooh,” Buffy replied in admiration, turning her head to nod at her friend in approval before spotting the array of food on the table, “Mini quiches!”  
  
  
Willow laughed and at rolled her eyes at her friend before continuing to the door, opening it to see her father and Michelle standing in their porch, holding a bottle of wine in her hands.  
  
  
“Dad!” she greeted warmly, embracing the man for a moment before doing the same to Michelle, then standing aside to let them in, “Come in, come in.”  
  
  
The two walked in and Ira offered a wave to Buffy who was walking back into the living room, where music was playing from and sounds of talking and laughter were billowing out of.  
  
  
“The gang’s all inside,” Willow said, motioning in the same direction, “Uh, Dad, Brian said he wanted to talk to you about some merger or something? I’ll be honest I kinda zone out whenever you guys start with the business talk.”  
  
  
“Yes, I know what he’s talking about,” Ira replied with a smile, “Our whole company is taking over–”  
  
  
Ira paused for a moment as he noticed the look on his daughter’s face.  
  
  
“Ah yes, I see the glazed over eyes now. I’ll just go find him.”  
  
  
He started towards the living room as Michelle turned towards Willow.  
  
  
“Where’s Tara?”  
  
  
“Upstairs. JJ knocked some of the plates of food by accident and she was all in a flurry trying to make more in time and was only jumping in the shower when people started arriving. I was just gonna going up to see if she’s ready,” Willow replied, pointing her thumb over her shoulder towards the staircase, then smiling at the woman, “There’s drinks, and food...help yourself.”  
  
  
“Thank you, dear.”  
  
  
Michelle went towards the sounds of people and Willow made her way up the stairs and down the hallway.  
  
  
“Tara, everyone’s here, are you almost ready?” she called as she rounded the door into their bedroom and grinned as she saw her wife bending over the bed, her butt elevated and hugged by tight black pants, “Mmhh, baby, that ass in them–”  
  
  
Willow cut herself off as an indistinguishable noise rose from her throat and she found herself clutching the door to keep herself upright as she watched Tara straighten up, affixing an earring she clearly lost in the blanket of the bed into her right ear and wearing, to Willow’s shock and delight, a skinny red tie against a loose white blouse and a black waistcoat hanging open off her shoulders.  
  
  
The outfit Willow had seen before.   
  
  
The tie she had not. At least not on Tara.   
  
  
“Hi, honey, sorry I took so long, I lost one of my earrings,” Tara replied as she sat on the edge of the bed and starting pulling a pair of black boots that were alongside the bed onto her feet. When Willow just continued to gape at her, she looked down self-consciously and flapped the end of the tie upwards, “Is it not as sexy as you were thinking?”  
  
  
Willow managed push the door closed, with her back flat against it, and felt her jaw shake as her eyes bore into her wife.  
  
  
“I-I feel like I should be dropping to my knees in awe of your sexiness.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Tara replied with a pleased and somewhat smug smile, “Well then it had the desired effect.”  
  
  
Willow made another indistinguishable sound, though it did bear resemblance to a whimper, and balled her fists at her sides for a moment before rushing across the room and jumping on top of Tara, her eyes dark with lust.  
  
  
“Let’s screw.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes widened as she was pushed back onto the bed and felt Willow start to pull at the collar of her shirt and drop her head into her neck. She allowed herself a few moments of butterflies as the redhead’s lips caressed her skin before pushing lightly on her wife's shoulders.   
  
  
“As romantic an offer that is, sweetie...”  
  
  
Willow pulled away and looked like she was desperately searching for a reason to keep them right where they were before grinning in victory.  
  
  
“I brought you flowers home from the store!”  
  
  
Tara blinked a few times as she tried to follow the Willow-logic-train, her eyes narrowing as she finally did so.  
  
  
“You’re using the romantic gesture from earlier as a trade-off for sex now?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow stated in a clear and altogether possessive tone before taking the opportunity of being pushed into a straddling position to start to pull Tara’s belt buckle open, “I will rock your world.”  
  
  
Tara grabbed Willow’s hands from her belt and pushed herself into a sitting position.  
  
  
“I know you will,” she said before adding pointedly, “Later.”  
  
  
“Or,” Willow replied in what any other time would have been a helpful tone, “Now.”  
  
  
Tara tried and failed to suppress a giggle as Willow honed in on her neck again but quickly pushed at her wife’s shoulders when the redhead's hand pushed past her opened belt buckle and brushed against the front of her panties.  
  
  
“Everyone is downstairs.”  
  
  
Willow moved her hand up and tried to slip it behind Tara’s tie and under her blouse.  
  
  
“They have music, they have food, they’re good!”  
  
  
Tara moved her hands to Willow’s cheeks to pull her head up so she could look her straight in the eye.  
  
  
“You know I want you. I cannot wait to rip that dress from your perfect body and have you beneath me all night,” she started and saw Willow nod and grin in approval so shook her head slightly, “But we’ve got some important news to share.”  
  
  
Willow reluctantly dropped her hands and sat back on her heels.   
  
  
“Okay,” she agreed grudgingly before placing one hand on the knot of Tara’s tie and moving it side to side, “But later, you’re not allowed to wear anything but this.”  
  
  
“Deal,” Tara responded as Willow continued to play with the tie.  
  
  
“Where did you even get it? There’s no way you had time to go into the city and buy one while I was at the store with JJ.”  
  
  
“I found it in the Halloween box,” Tara answered with a small chuckle, “Remember from that year you thought it would be funny to go as Ask Jeeves since everyone at work calls you Google?”  
  
  
Willow started to nod, then frowned at her wife’s wording.  
  
  
“It was funny.”  
  
  
“Of course it was, sweetie,” Tara replied in a placating tone before seeing the redhead’s eyes crease and amending it to a more reassuring one, “It was very funny. The bald cap just freaked me out.”  
  
  
Willow seemed to accept that before looking as if she suddenly realised something.  
  
  
“Is that why you wouldn’t have sex with me that night?!”  
  
  
Tara looked at the redhead as if to say ‘really?’ and sighed.  
  
  
“You wanted to keep the bald cap on.”  
  
  
Willow shrugged one shoulder.  
  
  
“I thought it would keep my hair out of the way.”  
  
  
Tara twirled the ends of Willow’s hair in her fingers.  
  
  
“I like your hair in the way,” she replied with a small tug of indication, “Now c’mere and give me a smooch so we can go downstairs.”  
  
  
Willow eagerly took Tara’s lips between her own and after a moment, started trying to push the blonde back down onto the mattress. Tara pulled away from the kiss and patted Willow’s cheek with a grin.  
  
  
“Nice try,” she said as she slipped off the bed and walked over to the mirror to adjust her clothes.  
  
  
“Worth a shot,” Willow mumbled as the stood too.  
  
  
Tara turned back around and moved towards her wife.  
  
  
“You creased your dress,” she said as she pulled at the ends of Willow’s dress until she was satisfied it was crease-free and smiled, “Beautiful.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied and held out her hand for Tara to take, which she did.  
  
  
They walked hand in hand out of the room and towards the stairs, but Tara stopped short when she heard noises from the opposite end of the hallway.  
  
  
“The kids are in JJ’s room,” Willow explained, “Alex brought over all his Lego and they’re combining it with JJ’s to make ‘the greatest Lego land in all the world.”  
  
  
“Ah, I see,” Tara replied, walking them over to the door, poking her head through the door and seeing Alex and JJ sitting on the floor with an array of Lego pieces around them and a plate with just a few leftover cake crumbs between them, while a fold away crib near them had a quiet and sleeping Ella inside, “Hi boys.”  
  
  
Both boys looked up, momentarily stopping their assembling.  
  
  
“Hi Mommy.”  
  
  
“Hi Aunty Tara.”  
  
  
“Having fun?” Tara asked and got two wide grins and nods in response, “Okay, well make sure if Ella wakes up to tell one of us and not to take her out of her crib, okay?”  
  
  
“Uncle Jesse told us,” JJ replied absently, his attention focusing back completely on the task at hand as he looked to Alex, “Gimme the silver piece!”  
  
  
“JJ...” Tara warned.  
  
  
“Please,” JJ added, rolling his eyes slightly though not enough for his mother to see.  
  
  
“Okay, well good luck with your Lego city–”  
  
  
“Lego world,” both boys interrupted Tara who stifled a laugh.  
  
  
“With your Lego _world_. Come downstairs if you need anything.”  
  
  
She got two affirmative nods and turned back to Willow with a smile. They continued the rest of the way down the stairs and stopped in the foyer.  
  
  
“Drink?” Tara asked.  
  
  
“Yes, please,” Willow nodded, “Um...”  
  
  
“I got that apple cider you like. You know, the sweeter one.”  
  
  
“Perfect,” Willow grinned, “Hey and grab me some of those baby carrots and that awesome hummus you made. And a few cheesesticks. Oh and couple of those garlic-y chicken finger things.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head at her wife.  
  
  
“Did you eat all the food while you were putting it on the table?”  
  
  
Willow was silent for a long moment before answering.  
  
  
“Not all of it.”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm, alright,” Tara replied in a dubious tone, “Anything else?”  
  
  
“One of those mini muffins,” Willow replied enthusiastically before adding sweetly, “Please.”  
  
  
“Chocolate chip or blueberry?” Tara asked before realising she knew the answer already, “Both.”  
  
  
“It’s because you know me so well, that’s why we work,” Willow giggled as she put her hands on Tara’s cheeks and popped a kiss on her lips, “See ya on the inside.”  
  
  
She spun around and moved towards the living room while Tara turned to go into the dining room, offering a small wave to the only other two in there, Anya and Buffy, apparently unable to stay away from the culinary delights the room offered.  
  
  
“Hi guys,” Tara said as she went to the far end of the table and took two champagne flutes, filling one three-quarters full with an opened bottle of sparkling wine.  
  
  
“Hey Tara,” Buffy greeted, as she looked between the plate of pigs in blankets and devilled eggs, “ _Great_ food.”  
  
  
“Why thank you,” Tara replied as she twisted the lid on the bottle of apple cider off and filled the other glass.  
  
  
She secured the lid back on the bottle and retrieved one of the paper plates from the stack on the table, looking around at the array of items. She was just spooning some of the hummus onto the plate when Anya piped up.  
  
  
“Are you being the man today?”  
  
  
Tara calmly started to arrange the food Willow had requested on the plate and shook her head.  
  
  
“Anya, we’ve had this conversation before. Neither Willow nor I are, or take turns being, ‘the man’. We are both women and it’s one of our favourite things about each other.”  
  
  
“You don’t really get the whole ‘lesbian’ thing, do you?” Buffy asked through a mouthful of pastry.  
  
  
Anya gestured towards Tara defensively.  
  
  
“She’s the one wearing a tie.”  
  
  
“Have you ever woken up in the morning and put on one of Xander’s shirts?” Tara asked and Anya nodded, “And yet you’re still a woman.”  
  
  
Anya seemed to contemplate and accept that, but had another question.  
  
  
“Well who spoons who?”  
  
  
Tara laughed and threw a baby carrot into her mouth.  
  
  
“That we take turns in,” she replied with a twinkle in her eye as she held the plate of food in one hand and one of the glasses in the other, “Will you help me with this? The last thing I need is a hummus stain on my shirt.”  
  
  
Anya picked up the other glass and looked down at the plate in Tara’s hand.  
  
  
“Hungry?”  
  
  
“Willow is,” Tara answered as they both started walking from the room.  
  
  
Anya nodded approvingly.  
  
  
“Did she burn a lot of energy giving you anniversary orgasms?”  
  
  
Tara pressed her lips together to hold in a grin as they walked through the doorway into the living room.  
  
  
“A lady never tells,” she replied reservedly and spotted Willow by the fireplace. She went over and handed her the plate and glass to a grateful smile, then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, “Back in one sec.”  
  
  
She went back and retrieved her glass from Anya with a ‘thanks’ before saying her hellos to the rest of the gang, then returned to Willow, who had devoured every scrap of food that had been on her plate.  
  
  
“You can stop cooking dinner every night, I can totally survive if you just make appetisers,” Willow gushed through a mouthful of food, “So good.”  
  
  
Tara frowned.  
  
  
“Not very nutritious.”  
  
  
“Who needs nutrients?” Willow scoffed as she put her paper plate on the mantelpiece before Tara gave a pointed look down to her stomach, “Oh right.”  
  
  
“Speaking of,” Tara replied, lowering her voice and gesturing quietly around them, “When do you want to...?”  
  
  
Willow looked around the room and shrugged.  
  
  
“Now?”  
  
  
“Uh, sure,” Tara nodded, slightly surprised, “No, let’s definitely...ready when you are.”  
  
  
“All set,” Willow beamed excitedly and swung her hand between them to interlock her fingers with Tara’s as she turned to face the room of people, “Um, everyone, can I get your attention for a moment?”  
  
  
She waited for the chatter to simmer down and for everyone’s attention to be on her before continuing.  
  
  
“Hi,” she started and tapped a finger against her glass as she thought of what to say, “Um, thanks for coming today. To the party we were forced to have lest Anya sue us for loss of entertainment.”  
  
  
Everyone chuckled and Anya held her glass up with a pleased smile that she’d been mentioned.  
  
  
“But seriously,” Willow continued after a moment, “Thanks for coming. To celebrate 11 wonderful years I’ve been blessed to have this beautiful lady by my side.”   
  
  
She looked over to Tara giving her a bashful smile and squeezed her hand before continuing.  
  
  
“And uh, some of you I’ve known all those 11 years and some came in at various intersections between then and now. But regardless of when you came in to my – our – lives, it’s all of you together that we call family. And it’s all of you we’re so very happy to be sharing our special day with.”  
  
  
Everyone smiled and a couple raised their glasses in a gesture of support as Willow started to speak again.  
  
  
“So since we’re all here today, celebrating, we wanted to share some news,” she said before pausing for a moment, “Uh, actually, two pieces of news!”  
  
  
Tara shot the redhead a confused look before realising what she meant and nodding at her to continue. Willow held her glass up high and used her fingers to gesture around.  
  
  
“We bought the house.”  
  
  
Everyone was silent until Becky piped up.  
  
  
“Which house?”  
  
  
Willow gestured around herself again.  
  
  
“This house.”  
  
  
Becky looked confused and surprised.  
  
  
“You didn’t already own the house?”  
  
  
“Uh, no,” Willow shook her head, “No, this house was rented. But the landlord decided to sell and we bought. And we got all the final papers this morning. So...yay.”  
  
  
“Well, congratulations,” Alice offered first, “I bet it’s nice to know you own all the walls.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement and both her and Tara smiled around the room as everyone else extended congratulations.  
  
  
“So the other thing...”  
  
  
Willow trailed off and looked to Tara for help who just smiled in encouragement.  
  
  
“I believe you had a way you wanted to...”  
  
  
Willow’s brow creased in confusion before she remembered the conversation in the kitchen earlier when she proposed a particular way of going about the ‘big reveal’.  
  
  
“Oh. Yea. Well, okay,” she said, stifling a giggle as she bent down and left her glass on the coffee table, then turned back to Tara, “Will I just...?”  
  
  
Tara shrugged and nodded while everyone else in the room wore an expression saying ‘what the hell is going on?’   
  
  
Willow inhaled deeply as she undid the ends of the shawl-style sweater she had crossed over her front before swatting them completely out of the way and pushing her stomach out through her dress.  
  
  
“Surprise!”  
  
  
Everyone’s eyes widened but they seemed completely unable to process as the room fell into an eerie silence. Willow held a hand either side of her stomach and cleared her throat uncomfortably when the silence just continued.  
  
  
“Uh, I haven’t eaten too many mini muffins,” she ventured before quickly adding, “And no Anya before you ask, I’m not bloated because I’m on my period.”  
  
  
“Valid assumption,” Anya murmured, though a knowing smile was on her face.  
  
  
Everyone else however remained speechless and unmoving until Buffy, who hadn’t been the in the room and Willow had forgotten to account for her in the excitement to tell all, came back in, chewing loudly.  
  
  
“What’d I miss?” she asked as she gnawed on a chicken wing before dropping it, half-eaten to her plate when she saw Willow’s stomach, “Holy crap! You’re pregnant!”  
  
  
“Eureka, somebody gets it!” Willow beamed, before dropping her tone to a softer one, “I’m pregnant, guys. We’re having a baby.”  
  
  
Willow watched as complete comprehension dawned on everyone’s faces before jumping in place in fright when Becky let out a loud and shrill scream and rushed over to grab Willow, almost lifting her with the force of her hug.  
  
  
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!”  
  
  
“There’s the kinda reaction I was looking for!” Willow giggled before gasping for breath as Becky squeezed extra tight, causing Tara to try and pull her back.  
  
  
“Please stop before you squeeze the child right out of my wife.”  
  
  
Becky let herself be pulled away and used the opportunity to throw her arms around Tara with just as much excitement.  
  
  
“You’re having a baby!!”  
  
  
As Tara took the brunt of Becky’s squeezing and the room filled with sounds of surprise and congratulations, Ira calmly walked over to Willow and placed a silent, elongated kiss against her forehead.  
  
  
“Congratulations, my sweet girl.”  
  
  
Willow grinned as her father wrapped his arms around her warmly.  
  
  
“You’re gonna be a grandpa again.”  
  
  
“The proudest one in the world,” Ira replied as he pulled back with a wide smile, “And the proudest father.”  
  
  
He pressed another kiss to his daughter’s temple before stepping aside to let an eager Michelle embrace her and moved towards Tara, who had finally been released by Becky.  
  
  
“I feel I ought to be shaking your hand.”  
  
  
Tara offered her hand, which Ira took and shook, then used to pull her into a hug.  
  
  
“I’m so very happy for you.”  
  
  
“I’m so very happy for us too,” Tara replied as she hugged back, “Thank you Ira.”  
  
  
They went through a slew of hugs and best wishes from everyone until Anya approached Tara, arms folded over her chest.  
  
  
“And you still say you’re not the man?”   
  
  
Tara just shook her head and resisted rolling her eyes and Willow, whilst hugging Xander but close enough to hear the exchange, looked bewildered.  
  
  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said over Xander’s shoulder, “But trust me, she’s a woman.”  
  
  
“Yea we all saw her boobs on New Year’s, remember?” Xander jokes only to receive death glares from Willow, Tara and Anya, making him cower slightly, “Xander go sit now.”  
  
  
“Good idea,” Willow replied with narrowed eyes and watched as he and Anya returned to their seats, Xander getting a slap on the back of his head along the way, making her smirk.  
  
  
She didn’t have much time to react to that though, as she noticed a very-bouncy Buffy throw herself into Tara’s arms with an excited squeal and much to Willow’s surprise, felt Angel wrapped his arms around her.   
  
  
When Angel felt Willow stiffen, he instantly pulled away and cleared his throat.  
  
  
“Sorry. Should I not have...?”  
  
  
Willow looked stunned for a moment before quickly shaking her head.  
  
  
“No, no, hugging is...great. You just haven’t. Ever.”  
  
  
Angel looked uncertain with himself.  
  
  
“It felt appropriate.”  
  
  
“Very,” Willow answered with a lot more ease, and leant up to embrace the man again, “Thanks Angel.”  
  
  
When they pulled apart the next time, Angel offered a little smile but it faltered when Buffy wrapped an arm around his waist and spoke.  
  
  
“He told me once he finally understood what family meant the day you two made him ‘Uncle Angel’.”  
  
  
Angel averted his gaze uncomfortably but focused it again when he heard Tara speak.  
  
  
“It’s okay, Angel, I understand. I felt that way when I first met Willow.”  
  
  
He shared a look of understanding with Tara for a moment before both of their attentions were pulled away when they noticed Buffy playfully punching Willow’s arm.  
  
  
“He gives good hug, huh?”  
  
  
Angel resumed his uncomfortable shuffle and Willow laughed.  
  
  
“Well no one hugs quite like my woman, but yes, that was definitely a great hug.”  
  
  
“Tara does give the best hug,” Buffy agreed seriously before looking up at Angel apologetically, “Sorry, honey. She’s just got this way she squeezes...”  
  
  
“Oh yes, a Tara-squeeze is a squeeze like no other,” Willow replied before turning to Tara and holding her arms out, “Demonstration, please.”  
  
  
Tara slipped her arms around Willow’s waist and pulled their bodies together. There was a collective smile of happiness for the couple around the room as Willow grinned giddily and popped a kiss on her wife’s lips, feeling Tara smile against her in response and put her hands below the blonde’s shoulders, pulling on her waistcoat to pull her closer.  
  
  
The air of joy among the other started to turn into awkward staring as Willow and Tara made no effort to stop, even letting things heat up as they apparently forgot they weren’t the only ones in the room.  
  
  
“There goes the tongue,” Becky commented casually, then made a sound akin to a cackle when she watched Willow’s hands drop, “I’ll take an ass grab for 400, Alex.”  
  
  
The rest of the room turned to stare at her and Becky just laughed, by far the most used to the constant pull on each other her friends had.  
  
  
“This is just like college when we’d have girl’s nights and they’d make out in the corner and I’d have to pretend to watch the movie and not be a perve,” she explained and held up her hands in a gesture of power, “Don’t worry guys, I got this. Hey, Willow, if you don’t stop, I’m gonna take pictures and email them to your professor!”  
  
  
Willow kept her mouth on point but her eyes darted across the room to give Becky what could only be described as a ‘what the fuck?’ look before she eventually pulled away from Tara to regard her friend with utter bewilderment.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
Becky’s eyes narrowed in thought as she considered what she’d just said.  
  
  
“Right, not college anymore. Change that to boss.”  
  
  
“Um, we’re her boss,” Xander piped up, gesturing between himself and Jesse across the room.  
  
  
Jesse looked down towards Becky and grinned.  
  
  
“You have my email, right?” he asked, promptly receiving a slap on the chest from the back of Alice’s hand, “Ooff. Jeez, a man can’t even make a joke around here.”  
  
  
“Okay Aunt Becky and Uncle Jesse,” Willow started sarcastically but was cut off as Jesse groaned and dropped his head into his hands.  
  
  
“Full House theme,” he muttered with a sigh as the tune ran around his mind, “Every time.”  
  
  
“Anyway...” Willow continued, holding up a hand apologetically, “We’re done.”   
  
  
She moved so one arm was wrapped sideways around Tara’s waist and threw a wink in her direction.  
  
  
“For now.”  
  
  
Tara blushed but gave the redhead a crooked smile and moved over just slightly to sit in the free armchair. She pulled Willow into her lap and secured her hands over each other on the redhead’s bump. There was a split second of silence before Xander piped up.  
  
  
“So...how...?”  
  
  
Angel spoke next, asking the question most of the others were thinking but didn’t quite know how to phrase, uncharacteristically doing so without considering his wording.   
  
  
“Whose stuff did you use?”  
  
  
Buffy turned to Angel, wide-eyed in disbelief.  
  
  
“Do I need to make it a trifecta of hitting the men today?”  
  
  
“I think there’s been probably been enough of that,” Tara replied quietly, rubbing one hand against her knee before bringing it up to gesture around her, “It’s okay, you can ask questions. We used an anonymous donor for that.”  
  
  
Everyone nodded and Jesse gestured in front of him.  
  
  
“How do they actually...?”  
  
  
Willow looked to Tara, who indicated for her to answer, so she did.  
  
  
“Well, it’s just like would happen if it was happening...another way, except outside the body. They take the sperm and the egg and put them together, then they put that in me and it stuck.”  
  
  
“So you did IVF? Not insemination?” Michelle asked, knowing the differences in the processes from friends of hers who had had trouble conceiving before looking apologetic, “I’m sorry, that’s too personal.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head to indicate it was all right.   
  
  
“No, no, it’s okay. Yes, we did IVF instead of insemination.”  
  
  
“What’s the difference?” Buffy asked.  
  
  
“IVF, they did what I just said,” Willow started to answer, “Insemination is...”  
  
  
“The turkey baster method,” Anya finished helpfully.  
  
  
Willow looked slightly grossed out but nodded.  
  
  
“Well, basically.”  
  
  
Looks of understanding crossed the room but Buffy looked slightly puzzled.  
  
  
“Why did you do the UFO thing? Turkey basting seems much easier.”  
  
  
“It’s IVF. In-vitro fertilisation. And we did it,” Willow replied, moving one hand over Tara’s, “Because I, we, wanted us to use Tara’s eggs. So I could carry her baby.”   
  
  
“So, wait,” Alice asked, following the train of thought in her head, “They took the egg from Tara...and put it in you?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow nodded definitively, “And there was a lot of injections and poking and prodding and a whole helluva lot of doctor’s visits, but it was totally worth it because...”  
  
  
She slipped from Tara’s lap and walked over to the coffee table, placing her glass down before pulling open the drawer and excitedly holding up one of the numerous copies of their latest scans they had.  
  
  
“We have our little bean.”  
  
  
“Oh my god, lemme see, lemme see,” Buffy gushed, moving forwards to grab the picture, “That is the cutest foetus I have even seen!”  
  
  
Both Anya and Alice shot Buffy a momentary scornful look but both of them couldn’t help smiles of glee when the scan picture was passed over to them, the memory of their own pregnancies coming back to them.  
  
  
“Is this recent?” Anya asked, seeing the dates printed on the bottom, “How far along are you?  
  
  
“It’s from last week,” Willow answered as she took her seat on Tara’s lap again, “I’m 14 weeks as of Wednesday.”  
  
  
Jesse seemed to be staring at Willow’s belly and shook his head with a whistle.  
  
  
“I cannot believe we haven’t noticed that bump.”  
  
  
Willow looked down lovingly at the bump.  
  
  
“Well I only popped in the last couple of weeks. We wanted to wait for it to be passed the 3 month mark and this seemed like a good opportunity since we’d all be together.”  
  
  
Alice traced the outline of the baby in the picture, somewhat in awe.  
  
  
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us you were doing all of this.”  
  
  
Tara gave a wry grin.  
  
  
“Did you tell us when you and Jesse were trying?”  
  
  
“Well no, but that’s differ–” Alice started to reply before stopping herself with a cleared throat as she saw both Willow’s and Tara’s eyebrows raise, “I’m so happy for you.”  
  
  
Tara squeezed Willow’s swollen stomach and quickly kissed her cheek.  
  
  
“We’re happy for us too.”  
  
  
“I always thought you guys would adopt again if you had more kids,” Brian commented as the scan was passed to him and he took in the sight of the growing life, “Wow.”  
  
  
“Don’t you go getting broody,” Becky commented and saw her boyfriend just shake his head with a smile, indicating he was more than happy to be ‘Uncle Brian’ and not ‘Daddy’.  
  
  
“Well, we could still adopt if we wanted more,” Willow spoke up in reference to the previous comment, before smiling over at her wife, “Or Tara could get pregnant. But this is just the way we wanted to do it this time.”  
  
  
“I think it’s incredibly sweet,” Michelle commented as the scan reached the end of the line of people with her and Ira, “I remember when your mother was pregnant with you, Tara, she kept all of your scan pictures. They were a lot fuzzier though.”  
  
  
“They were in her diary,” Tara replied softly, “I have them.”  
  
  
Michelle smiled a somewhat sad smile but it turned more joyous as she looked on at the scan and passed it over to Ira. He looked up and held it over his heart.  
  
  
“May I?”  
  
  
“We have a bunch of copies,” Willow nodded with a smile, “You can keep it.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Ira replied, holding the picture between himself and Michelle and looking at it in wonder before clearing his throat in a bid to quash the swell of emotion and holding his glass up, “A toast! To my beautiful daughter, her beautiful wife and their beautiful family.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and raised her glass.  
  
  
“To my growing belly.”   
  
  
Tara clinked her glass against Willow’s and looked at her adoringly.  
  
  
“And our ever growing love.”


	40. Chapter 40

“I thought they’d never leave.”  
  
  
“Willow,” Tara replied in a softly chastising tone as she loaded the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and watched her wife come through the doorway to the kitchen.  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked defensively as she walked towards the blonde and bent over the island, leaning on her elbows, “I love them all. Dearly. And I am very excited that we told them about the baby and it was a wonderful party and everything went great. But the kids have been asleep for hours and it is way past bye-bye-clothes o’clock.”  
  
  
Tara pushed the door of the dishwasher closed and folded her arms across her chest.  
  
  
“Maybe I want to relax with a glass of wine first.”  
  
  
Willow’s face fell for a second before she started to walk towards the cabinets with the wine glasses.  
  
  
“Okay,” she agreed, trying and failing to hide her disappointment, “I’ll get it. Red or white?”  
  
  
As Willow started to open the cabinet, she suddenly found herself being grabbed around the waist and walked in the other direction, a grinning Tara meeting her gaze.  
  
  
“You are much too easy.”  
  
  
“Jeez, you try to be nice to your wife,” Willow tried to sound affronted but was grinning too much for it to be effective as her hand reached out to flick the light off as they went through the door, then moved both around Tara’s neck, “You’re gonna get it for that.”  
  
  
“I’m counting on it,” Tara replied with a suggestive low purr before stalling in place at the end of the stairs when Willow started to rush and pull her up them, “Hey, slow down.”  
  
  
Willow bit her lip and moved one hand to the knot of her wife’s tie.  
  
  
“You know how hot you’re making me in that tie.”  
  
  
“And you know how clumsy you are on stairs, so slow down,” Tara replied, letting herself be pulled along by the tie but keeping her grip on the redhead’s hips steady.  
  
  
As they neared the top step, Willow decided she had enough coordination to manage the last few while being otherwise occupied and tugged the tie forwards so Tara’s lips fell close enough for her to capture.   
  
  
She hungrily devoured the blonde’s mouth with her own as they went from walking up the stairs to almost running down the hallway, locked lip-to-lip. As they rounded the door to their bedroom, Tara pushed Willow against it and bent her knees to grab the hem of the redhead’s dress, pulling it up and over her head and throwing it to the side, leaving Willow in just her bra and panties, covered by the thick black tights she was wearing.  
  
  
“I love dresses,” Tara murmured as she pushed her body against Willow’s, “They’re so easy to get off.”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Willow replied, licking her lips as she felt Tara’s heavy breath hit them, “But tights, not so much.”  
  
  
She grabbed Tara’s cheeks a planted a passionate kiss on her lips as she turned them around, then released the blonde and sauntered over to the bed, pushing herself onto the mattress and dangling her legs with a grin.  
  
  
Tara crossed the room in a matter of seconds and wasted no time in yanking the waistband of Willow’s tights, bringing the panties beneath with them, bunching the material down until they fell from her shoeless feet. Willow glanced down at her bare lower half and giggled.  
  
  
“Killed two birds with one stone.”  
  
  
Tara took a hold of Willow’s hips and leant over her so their faces were almost touching as a smirk played on her lips.  
  
  
“And set one pussy free.”  
  
  
Willow blushed but didn’t have much time to react as she found herself suddenly being kissed with great force and hands sliding up her sides, encouraging her up slightly before started to deftly free of her last article of clothing. As Tara’s body pushed her back against the mattress, Willow was all too aware of the cold feeling of the blonde’s clothes against her naked flesh, nothing like the sensation of Tara’s skin she wanted to be feeling and started pulling her wife’s shirt from her pants.  
  
  
Tara wasted no time in taking the hint and pushed herself back into a standing position, frantically trying to rip the clothes from her body. Willow watched, propped up on her elbows until she saw the tie starting to go over Tara’s head and quickly sat up.  
  
  
“Hey, hey,” she said, ripping the buttons of Tara’s blouse open and shoving it back over her shoulders while leaving the tie hanging around her neck, grabbing the knot again, “I told you, you’re not allowed wear anything  _but_  this.”  
  
  
Tara nodded and dropped her hands to her sides.  
  
  
“Why don’t you undress the rest of me,” she suggested, her eyes burning a dark, lust-filled blue, “You can decide what you want on or off.”  
  
  
“Those sound like agreeable terms,” Willow replied as she sank to her knees and brought her hands to Tara’s belt buckle.  
  
  
She kept her gaze locked with Tara’s as she slowly pulled the clasp open, then tugged the belt from her wife’s pants with one swift movement. It thumped against the floor as Willow leant her head forwards and started placing kisses on Tara’s stomach, moving around where the tie fell as she turned them both in place, then pushed the blonde onto the bed.  
  
  
Tara sat perched on the side of the bed and watched as Willow pulled her boots and socks from her feet, then ran her fingers up the blonde’s calf under her pants before moving her hands up to get rid of them completely.  
  
  
Tara lifted her hips from the bed as the material was pulled from her body, then again when Willow went back for panties, pulling them down her legs slowly and dragging her fingertips behind against her wife’s skin.  
  
  
Willow let the panties fall from Tara’s ankles to the floor and bent her head to place a kiss on either of the blonde’s inner thighs. She heard Tara’s breath quicken and let her lips caress up to her wife’s hip before moving up to kiss the tops of her breasts, moving her hands behind to push the hooks of her bra open, pulling it off from the front.  
  
  
She looked up to meet Tara’s gaze and quickly found an eager mouth latched onto her own. She started to stand and was about to push Tara back onto the bed when she felt her wife pull away and ran her hands down her arms, interlocking their fingers when she reached the end.  
  
  
“You are so beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small smile but looked unconvinced.  
  
  
“I feel kinda pudgy.”  
  
  
Tara frowned as she reached up to tuck a piece of hair behind the redhead’s ear.  
  
  
“Honey...”  
  
  
“I know, I know,” Willow replied with a small shrug, “Just how I feel.”  
  
  
Tara moved both hands down to Willow’s hips, turning them out so her fingers were splayed out over the side of the bump and grinned.  
  
  
“Well maybe I like pudgy.”  
  
  
Willow gave a bashful smile and rested her hands on Tara’s shoulders.  
  
  
“Yea?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara replied before bringing one hand down and flapping the end of the tie upwards, “ _I_  feel ridiculous.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and climbed onto Tara’s lap.  
  
  
“Well maybe I like ridiculous.”  
  
  
“Oh yea?” Tara murmured, teasing the redhead by pretending to lean in for a kiss, then pulling away right before their lips met.  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow breathed, taking the initiative to brush their lips together momentarily, then finding the allure too great and kissing her wife passionately.  
  
  
They fell back onto the mattress and shuffled up the bed until Tara’s head was resting on the pillows with Willow lying flush against her, grinding into her body. Willow ran one hand from Tara’s hip, up her side and back down again, as she slipped her tongue to the blonde’s mouth and moaned when she felt hands taking generous handfuls of the flesh of her buttocks.  
  
  
Willow tilted her head as her tongue played with Tara’s and lifted her upper body as she let her hand curve inwards to the blonde’s breast, beginning to tweak her nipple into a stiff peak.  
  
  
Tara writhed beneath Willow and moaned when their tangled legs made the redhead’s thigh hit against her core. She used her grip on her wife’s buttocks to repeat the action, starting a steady rhythm of friction as increased arousal spilled out of her, and dragged her palm up Willow’s back, feeling shivers against her as she did so.  
  
  
Willow found herself momentarily paralysed as each shiver rippled up her spine and felt Tara take over dominance in their kiss, aggressively pushing both of their tongues into the redhead’s mouth and rolling them to the other side of the bed so that she was on top.  
  
  
Willow wiggled her hips as the material of Tara’s tie fell down and tickled her stomach before feeling her wife’s hand move to her breast again, squeezing the globe of flesh tightly. Willow gasped and broke the kiss as a shot of pain throbbed in her chest.  
  
  
“Ow.”  
  
  
Tara instantly scrambled off of Willow and looked down at her, concerned and terrified.  
  
  
“I’m so sorry, are you okay? What happened? Did I hurt the baby?”  
  
  
“No, no,” Willow reassured quickly, reaching out to take Tara’s hand, “It’s my fault, I forgot to tell you my boobs have been getting really tender the last few days. Sorry.”  
  
  
Tara’s head tilted slightly to the side in thought.  
  
  
“I thought that was an early pregnancy thing.”  
  
  
“Well they were a little ache-y before but they’re just feeling a bit extra sensitive now. You can still touch them,” Willow replied, bringing Tara’s hand down to her breast and covering it, letting her fingers encourage the blonde’s hand to slowly squeeze inwards, “Okay, that amount of pressure. That’s good.”  
  
  
She took her hand away and gave soft moans of encouragement as Tara lightly massaged her breast and was starting to get lost in the bubbling pleasure when a voice streamed in to her thoughts.  
  
  
“Can I play with your nipples or are they a no-go zone?”  
  
  
There was a moment of silence as Willow regained focus and contemplated the question before speaking.  
  
  
“Try your mouth first.”  
  
  
Tara shuffled over in the bed and threw one leg over the redhead’s body so she was straddling her, then bent her upper body down so her face was hovering above the breast her hand wasn’t massaging. She was about to wrap her mouth around the rosy bud jutting up from her wife’s creamy flesh when she heard Willow call down to her.  
  
  
“Just lick.”  
  
  
Tara rested her cheek on Willow’s breast, careful not to put any pressure on it, and extended her tongue from her mouth, running it over the redhead’s nipple and feeling it harden more beneath her.  
  
  
“Mmhh,” Willow moaned as her body filled with warm pleasure from her extra-sensitive nipples, “Try sucking a little. Not too hard.”  
  
  
Tara moved her mouth over Willow’s breast and took the stiff peak between her lips, sucking very gently.  
  
  
“Little more,” Willow called down.  
  
  
Tara gave a strong but soft suck and heard a strangled gasp, followed by a moan.  
  
  
“Wow,” Willow breathed, straining her neck back against the pillows, “Don’t stop.”  
  
  
Tara kept up her motions as Willow squirmed beneath her before moving her mouth over to the redhead’s other breast, giving the nipple there the same treatment as the other side while she brought her hand up and let it softly mould the shape of the abandoned breast. Several minutes were lost in touch and moans until Tara decided to bring herself back up Willow’s body and took her wife’s unsuspecting lips between her own.  
  
  
It only took a moment for Willow to respond, her hands flying to the back of Tara’s neck and sliding into her scalp, firmly gripping her hair. She felt Tara’s tongue tease between her lips and opened her mouth willingly only for the blonde to pull back. She pushed her own tongue forwards and let the end play with the tip of Tara’s, wiggling it back and forth until she felt her wife grin against her mouth.  
  
  
Tara slowly pulled her mouth away from Willow’s and sat back on her heels so she was straddling the redhead.  
  
  
“That tickles.”  
  
  
Willow moved her hands so they were splayed out against Tara’s thighs and started to dance her fingertips against her wife’s skin.  
  
  
“Does this tickle?”  
  
  
Tara couldn’t hold back an instinctive grin at the sensation and nodded.  
  
  
“Makes me shiver.”  
  
  
Willow moved her hands inwards and ran her thumbs along Tara’s nether lips.  
  
  
“I can think of other ways to make you shiver.”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes as Willow stroked her intimate flesh and let out a ragged breath.  
  
  
“I think I’ll need a demonstration.”  
  
  
Willow let her fingers fall completely between Tara’s folds and gave a sigh of satisfaction as the wet arousal coated them. Her fingers leisurely explored the warm haven as her thumb circled and toyed with the bump in Tara’s flesh; the moans floating down to her like music to her ears.  
  
  
Her hand slowly caressed its way lower and lower until her fingertips were teasing Tara’s entrance and the blonde was insistently grinding her hips downwards. Willow moved her other hand to Tara’s hip and gripped her tightly before finally plunging two fingers inside her wife. She added a third finger straight away as she easily slipped in and out and watched with growing desire as Tara gasped and thrust her chest out in response as her back arched, making her breasts stand out, ever highlighted by the bright red material hanging between them.  
  
  
Willow’s hand moved of its own accord, following a hard and fast pace Tara set with her hips, as she found herself entranced with the hypnotic movement of her wife’s breasts bouncing up and down, lost in the sight until her daze was broken as hands covered where she focus had been.  
  
  
She swallowed a few times as her senses became alert again and she realised how aroused her body had become without her mind following and just how long she must have been spellbound in Tara.  
  
  
She felt like it had only been a few seconds, maybe a minute, since her hand had found its home in the familiar warm surroundings but if Tara’s moans were any indication, they were nearing the other side of things. She quickly pushed herself up into a sitting position and replaced Tara’s hand on her breast with her own as her mouth sunk into the blonde’s neck.  
  
  
“Sorry, baby I got distracted by you,” she murmured against her wife’s skin, “Did you ask for anything?”  
  
  
Tara balled her hands into fists by her side as Willow took over playing with her nipple, pinching hard with the intensity she needed, but was unable to process her wife’s question through the fog of need floating around her brain.  
  
  
“What are you talking about?” she asked breathlessly.  
  
  
Willow shook her head into Tara’s shoulder as she realised her wife hadn’t noticed her lapse into Tara-land and scraped her teeth along the blonde’s pulse point.  
  
  
“Nothin’. This good?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Tara replied with a groan, much more capable of answering simple questions like that.  
  
  
She strained her neck back as she felt Willow’s lips start to move over her throat, then down her chest to her collarbone. A guttural moan escaped her mouth when she felt deep, pulsing pleasure radiate from her core as Willow curled her fingers inside her and found her sweet spot. Her hands flew to Willow’s shoulders as she pushed her whole body forwards.  
  
  
Willow felt herself pushed back onto the mattress under the weight of the blonde, though Tara was quick to place her palms flat on the bed above the redhead’s shoulders, keeping her up and off Willow so no undue stress was placed on her body.  
  
  
Willow could hear her own heart pounding in her ears as Tara’s body just barely grazed her own each time the blonde moved down on her fingers and intently watched her face as she felt deep, throbbing heat around her fingers. She watched Tara’s eyes scrunch closed tightly and her nostrils flare with each heavy inhalation of her breath; taking in each perfect feature of her wife’s face until Tara’s head dropped against her shoulder and a long cry fell from her lips, her whole body violently arching.  
  
  
Willow stilled her hand inside the blonde as Tara shook above her and moved her other hand to her wife’s head, gently stroking down her hair and to her back. She turned her head inwards and started placing soft kisses on Tara’s cheek until she felt her wife’s body relax and twirled her fingertips up her spine.  
  
  
“Lots of shivers,” she whispered into Tara’s ear before pressing her lips there in a lingering kiss.  
  
  
Tara moved her head up so it was hovering about Willow’s, a sated smile on her face.  
  
  
“Consider your demonstration successful.”  
  
  
Willow gently removed her fingers from inside the blonde and cupped her core softly before grinning.  
  
  
“I’ll have to repeat it periodically just to make sure the results maintain.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her head and brushed her lips against Willow’s.  
  
  
“Only periodically?”  
  
  
“The more frequently the better,” Willow replied quickly, through soft kisses, “You know, for accuracy.”  
  
  
“Right,” Tara breathed against the redhead’s lips, “For accuracy.”  
  
  
Willow felt her whole body jolt as Tara moved to kiss her fiercely and enthusiastically responded. Just as it started to get heated, Tara suddenly pulled back and sat up, pulling her tie loose from around her neck. Willow quickly shook her hands in front of her.  
  
  
“No, don’t take it off!”  
  
  
Tara paused with the end of the material halfway through the knot and gave a devilish grin.  
  
  
“If I don’t take it off, how am I supposed to tie you up with it?”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes lit up in surprise and arousal and she nodded eagerly.  
  
  
“Yes, yes. Definitely take it off.”  
  
  
Tara ripped the rest of the tie to free the knot completely and was about to reach for Willow’s hands when she suddenly stopped as she felt the redhead’s bump hit against her own stomach and wondered whether her heat-of-the-moment idea was okay to continue with.  
  
  
“Wait, is this safe? For the baby?”  
  
  
Willow’s brow creased.  
  
  
“Well you’re not gonna wrap it around my stomach are you?”  
  
  
Tara worriedly toyed with the tie.  
  
  
“I was thinking about your circulation.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“Just don’t tie too tight.”  
  
  
Tara looked unconvinced.  
  
  
“Are you su–”  
  
  
“Very,” Willow cut the blonde off and held out her wrists together in indication. She bit the side of her lip excitedly as the material fell over them but sighed when the blonde tied them so loosely they’d fall off if she just gave the slightest movement, “Tara, come on, it may as well not be on. I’ll tell you if I feel even the tiniest twinge of something being wrong. If I’m gonna trust you, you gotta trust me.”  
  
  
“I trust you more than anything,” Tara replied sincerely, “You know that.”  
  
  
Willow just grinned and shook her wrists in front of Tara. A slow, crooked grin spread across Tara’s face as she felt her concerns eased and got back into the raunchy mind-set she’d been in before. She pulled either side of the tie so it bound Willow’s wrists securely together, then used the material to pull the redhead’s arms over her head and tied the other end around a slat in the headboard, fastening it with a double knot.  
  
  
She gave a quick tug to make sure Willow’s wrists would stay secure before shuffling down the bed so her face was just a centimetre away from the redhead’s and tapped her fingertips down the smaller girl’s side.  
  
  
“Hello, lover.”  
  
  
Willow let her eyes flutter closed for a split second as Tara’s fingers drummed onto her thighs before reopening them, then gulped as the blonde’s darkened orbs bore into her.  
  
  
“Hi.”  
  
  
She clenched her teeth as Tara squeezed her thigh before moving to brush her fingers over the top of her mound and instinctively struggled against the restraints. She loved the feeling of Tara being in such utter control of her but her primary urges were sending her into frenzied frustration.  
  
  
“I wanna touch you.”  
  
  
Tara brought her hand up from between Willow’s legs and dragged a fingertip in a straight line from the smaller girl’s forehead, down her nose and to her lips, holding it there for a moment before giving a single tap.  
  
  
“You don’t need your hands to touch me.”  
  
  
Willow felt her chest start to heave as Tara let her finger descend down between her breasts and fell off just above her stomach and started to move up her outstretched arm. She tried to take some calming breaths but gave up when her body just continued to rage with desire and lunged forwards as far as she could, firmly attaching her lips to Tara’s neck.  
  
  
Tara let out a sigh mixed in with a moan and moved her head down enough that Willow wasn’t straining herself. She tilted her neck to allow the redhead as much room as possible, feeling her overcompensate for her lack of hands-on action by trying to aggressively nip and suck every piece of skin her lips could find.  
  
  
Tara let her hand slide back down Willow’s side and over her hip, curling it underneath so she was caressing the redhead’s buttocks and squeezing the firm flesh. After a few moments she felt Willow’s leg rise under her and a foot started moving up and down on her shin.  
  
  
“Mmhh, there you go,” she murmured, pulling Willow’s hip up so their thighs hit against each other, “Lots of touching.”  
  
  
Willow tugged Tara’s earlobe between her teeth, feeling a fresh surge of arousal spill out between her legs every few seconds and started to twirl the end of her tongue down the blonde’s jaw. She tried to press her lips against Tara’s as she arrived at her wife’s mouth, but Tara pulled away right before they connected, a teasing grin on her face.  
  
  
“You want a kiss?”  
  
  
Willow nodded and tried to lunge forwards again but Tara put a finger on her lips and pushed her back.  
  
  
“How much?”  
  
  
Willow turned her head into her arms and whimpered in frustration before looking back at Tara determinedly. Tara felt Willow’s lower half start to shift underneath her and was unsure what the redhead was trying to do until she felt her wife’s core start to rub up and down on her thigh, leaving a wet trail behind.  
  
  
“That much.”  
  
  
Tara rolled her own hips so her thigh pressed harder against Willow’s core and saw the redhead throw her head back again and moan.  
  
  
“That’s a lot,” she said in a low, sensual tone, putting a finger on Willow’s chin and encouraging her to face her way, “Deserving, I think.”  
  
  
“Yes, yes,” Willow replied excitedly, parting her lips invitingly.  
  
  
Tara took the invitation this time, covering her wife’s mouth with her own and sliding her tongue between the redhead’s teeth and pulling Willow’s tongue between her lips, sucking on it.  
  
  
She felt Willow shudder beneath her and moan into her, feeling the vibration against her lips as she moved her hand to the redhead’s cheek, turning her head to the side as she released her tongue and slid her own in to explore the crevices of her wife’s mouth.  
  
  
Willow tried to play with Tara’s tongue but found it darting around her mouth too quickly for her to catch it so decided to copy the blonde’s action of before and clasped her lips around it. She stroked the top with her own tongue as she sucked and felt Tara’s hand fall from her cheek to her arm, fingernails digging into her skin until Tara inadvertently pulled away during an unstoppable groan of pleasure.   
  
  
Willow licked her lips as she took in Tara’s flushed cheeks and plumped limps, but had to stop when the blonde looked back at her with a sensual smile that sent any moisture in her body decidedly south.  
  
  
“Definitely very deserving,” Tara said as she loosened her hold on Willow’s arm and dragged her hand down so her palm was flat beneath her shoulder, “You can have one more kiss.”  
  
  
Willow’s face started to fall in disappointment but it quickly reversed when Tara continued.  
  
  
“But you get to choose where.”  
  
  
Willow looked down her body and thrust her hips beneath Tara.  
  
  
“Between my legs.”  
  
  
Tara sat back on her heels and put her hand down flat on the sheet visible in front of her between Willow’s legs, giving a tiny, teasing grin.  
  
  
“You want me to kiss the sheet?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head and spread her legs further apart.  
  
  
“My pussy. Kiss my pussy.”  
  
  
Tara let her legs bend back behind her and flattened out on the bed between Willow’s legs. She placed one hand on Willow’s thigh and pushed it towards the bed so the redhead’s lips were opened for her and looked up to her wife with a sly smile.  
  
  
“Since you only get one, I better make it a good one.”   
  
  
Willow watched as Tara’s tongue fell from her mouth and hit against her wanton flesh, but instantly lost the visual as her neck strained back and her body arched into the touch. She was gratefully surprised when Tara only teased her folds for a few moments before firmly taking her clit and sucking with gusto, though she could tell by the way the blonde moaned and buried her face into her that she had been planning on making her wait a lot longer, but just hadn’t been able to help herself, a thought that pleased Willow greatly.   
  
  
She tried to move her hand down to hold Tara's head and felt a rush of excitement as her wrists just hit against each other and stayed immobile above her.  
  
  
“Mmhh, yes Tara,” she called down encouragingly instead, “Eat me up, baby, I’m all yours.”  
  
  
That was the last coherent sound Tara heard; only gasps and groans fell to her ears as she worked her mouth and tongue fervently against Willow’s clit, making the redhead’s hips twist uncontrollably, to the point that Tara had to roughly hold her thighs down to continue the task at hand.   
  
  
Or mouth, as it was at that moment.  
  
  
Tara began to move her jaw as fast as she could when she sensed Willow was getting close to her peak, hearing throaty moans of appreciation for her efforts. She let her gaze drift upwards to watch the redhead come undone, using her unbeknownst wife’s facial cues to determine how hard to suck until she saw Willow’s eyes fly open and quickly dropped her mouth to plunged her tongue inside.  
  
  
Willow yelped as an all-encompassing rush of euphoric, spine-tingling pleasure shot through her. She watched colours burst in a symphony of dancing light in front of her eyes, before everything stopped and her world went black.  
  
  
When she came to several minutes later, she found her arms freed from the constraint they’d been in what seemed like a second ago to her and felt a body curled into her side. She blinked a few times as she became aware of the room and looked to the side where she saw the tie hanging off the knob of the drawer of her nightstand, then looked down to see her wife smiling back up at her from where her head was resting on her shoulder.  
  
  
“Hey,” Tara said softly, “I was worried for a second there, but your breathing seemed okay.”  
  
  
Willow inhaled deeply and stretched her body out so that her toes curled.  
  
  
“Just passed out from pleasure. Wow, wow, wow,” she replied as she used the little strength she had to wrap her arms tighter around Tara, thankful the blonde had manoeuvred them into that position, “This is familiar.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and nuzzled her cheek into Willow’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Cuddling? We’ve done it once or twice.”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow replied definitively, running her hand down Tara’s arm and entwining their fingers, “And this was the same position we cuddled for the very first time in.”  
  
  
There was silence for a moment before Tara spoke.  
  
  
“You have a good memory.”  
  
  
“There’s not a moment of you I don’t remember,” Willow replied, before looking down at Tara and waiting for her to look back up at her, “When we fell asleep like this eleven years ago, did you think this is how we’d wind up?”  
  
  
Tara seemed contemplative but had a soft smile on her face and eventually nodded.  
  
  
“Pretty much exactly.”  
  
  
One of Willow’s eyes quirked just slightly.  
  
  
“Really?”  
  
  
“Well, not exactly I suppose. I figured we’d still be in Boston. I thought you’d be a psychologist, or working in research, not the FBI. I didn’t know whether we’d have children already, but I guess I’d figured we’d have at least one by 30. I didn’t know whether our first would be a boy or a girl,” Tara reeled off before lifting her head to look at Willow lovingly, “But if you asking whether I thought we’d still be falling asleep in each other’s arms, then the answer is definitely yes.”  
  
  
Willow gave a bashful smile and reached up to cover Tara’s ear, stroking her hair softly.  
  
  
“How could you have been so sure?”  
  
  
Tara placed her palm against Willow’s cheek and leaned down to brush their lips together.  
  
  
“Because this day, eleven years ago, I felt my life begin.”


	41. Chapter 41

  
Tara pressed the steel of the knife in her hand down onto the bread of the sandwich she’d just prepared and cut it diagonally across – because everyone knew sandwiches tasted better cut in triangles.  
  
  
With the bread sliced, she dropped the knife into sink and picked up the plate under it, walking over to the glass doors that led to the backyard and sliding it open.  
  
  
“JJ, lunch,” she called out to her son who had made a makeshift race track out of some old flower pots and was racing his collections of cars in all directions.  
  
  
JJ looked up, his matchbox-sized yellow T-bird mid-air from a jump over a soccer ball but did make any move to stand.  
  
  
“Can I eat out here?” he asked, creasing his brow for full puppy-dog effect.  
  
  
Tara hesitated at the door for a moment but knew there was no way she could deny that face anything, so pushed herself off the frame and walked over to him, bending down.  
  
  
“Okay,” she agreed, placing the plate on top of an up-turned flower pot, “Don’t get your sandwich dirty.”  
  
  
“Won’t,” JJ shook his head adamantly, instantly reaching for a triangle of the peanut butter and jelly laden bread, “Thanks Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara dropped a kiss on her son’s head before straightening up and walking back towards the house, the sound of JJ making revving sounds through a full mouth falling to her ears until she slid the door closed behind her again.  
  
  
She started to move towards the sink, intending to fill the dishwasher with any stray dishes hanging about, but was stopped in her strides as the shrill sound of the doorbell rang out from the foyer. She knew Willow was resting upstairs, so she changed course and left the kitchen, walking to the front door and opening to reveal Michelle standing there by herself.  
  
  
“Hi!” Tara greeted warmly, stepping aside to allow her aunt inside, “Did you forget something at the party yesterday?”  
  
  
“No, no,” Michelle shook her head as she stepped over the threshold, “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head as she shut the door.  
  
  
“We’re just having a quiet Sunday. Yesterday was hectic.”  
  
  
“It was a wonderful evening,” Michelle replied kindly, a warm smile on her face, “And such fantastic news.”  
  
  
“You don’t need to convince me,” Tara responded with a small laugh and a wide smile, “Can I get you a drink? Coffee? Tea? We have every variety of tea these days.”  
  
  
Michelle seemed to think for a moment.  
  
  
“Peppermint?”  
  
  
“No problem,” Tara replied, gesturing towards the living room, “Make yourself comfortable.”  
  
  
Michelle nodded and went into the living room, sitting on the sofa. She dropped her purse by her feet and idly looked around the room until she noticed Tara coming in, a red mug in each hand with the string of a tea bag hanging from one.  
  
  
Michelle accepted that mug as it was offered to her and shuffled down on the sofa as Tara sat beside her, holding her own mug of coffee in her lap as she settled back comfortably against the cushions.  
  
  
“Did you just pop by for a chat?”  
  
  
Michelle took a long sip of her tea.  
  
  
“Well, yes,” she replied after a moment with a smile, looking down into her mug, “I was also wondering, and you can of course say no…you said yesterday you still had the scans from when your mother was pregnant with you…”  
  
  
“Would you like to see them?” Tara asked kindly, guessing what her aunt meant.  
  
  
“Only if that’s okay with you,” Michelle replied quickly.  
  
  
“Of course, it’s no problem,” Tara responded, leaning forwards and pulling a drawer of the coffee table open, “It’s funny actually, I was just looking at them myself this morning after you mentioned them yesterday. It’s amazing how far technology has come. We can see our little one so clearly.”  
  
  
Michelle felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her as Tara came back with a collection of square photos, sepia-toned in colour, each with a fuzzy image of a foetus at various stages of development. She left her mug on the small table beside the arm of the sofa and tentatively took them.  
  
  
“I was there for all of them, you know,” she said softly as she spent long moments looking at each one, “The scans.”  
  
  
“You were?” Tara asked in surprise, “I wouldn’t have thought my father would have been very happy with that.”  
  
  
Michelle shook her head.  
  
  
“He didn’t know. Your mother’s doctor was in Buffalo, he never came with her.”   
  
  
Tara gave a curt nod, then set her jaw as a wave of resentment rose inside her, causing her to speak suddenly without meaning to.  
  
  
“Why did she stay with him? The anger, the control. I know he didn’t get physical until after she died, but how could she stay with someone who disrespected her so much?”  
  
  
Michelle looked up from the scan photos and sighed.  
  
  
“She was the cheerleader, he was the quarterback. It was just expected they’d be together. It was a different time. I didn’t like someone trying to separate me from my own family, but she said it was best to keep our visits secret, so I did. It was better than not seeing her at all. And when you came along…” she trailed off and changed her tack, not wanting Tara to think her parents only stayed together because of her, “You were the apple of her eye.”  
  
  
A smile graced Tara’s face again.  
  
  
“She always made me feel like a princess.”  
  
  
“You were her princess,” Michelle replied, her eyes shining with memories, “She was always happy. Well, there was a time…after…but anyway, she was the kind who saw the best in everything, and everyone, which probably answers your question from before about why she stayed with your father. But I’d never seen her smile the way she did from the day she found out she was having you.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her gaze into her mug, smiling as she recollected her early years and the fond memories she had of them until she heard a shuffling sound from behind and looked over her shoulder to see Willow hovering in the doorway, looking as if she’d just woken up, her hair slightly mussed.  
  
  
“Hi sweetie pie,” Tara said affectionately.  
  
  
“I heard the doorbell,” Willow replied sleepily, rubbing her eyes, then turning her fist into a small wave as she saw her wife’s aunt, “Hi Michelle.”  
  
  
“Hi Willow,” Michelle replied warmly.  
  
  
Willow dropped her arm back down to her side, then noticed the collection of pictures in Michelle’s hands.  
  
  
“Oh I’m interrupting, I’m so sorry.”  
  
  
“No, no, not at all,” Michelle responded quickly as she saw Willow start to turn around, “Actually, Willow, if…if you wouldn’t mind, could I…?”  
  
  
She gestured towards Willow’s mid-section and Willow looked down at her belly, taking a moment to realise the woman meant she wanted to feel the bump and nodded.  
  
  
“Of course,” she replied cheerily, sauntering over to the sofa and flopping down between the two women, lifting up her t-shirt to just above her stomach, “It’s not much yet but I can’t stop feeling it either.”  
  
  
Michelle left the scan photos on her lap and put her palm flat against the small bump on Willow’s stomach. Willow grinned down, then looked over to Tara with a pleased smile. Tara leant over to place a chaste kiss on her wife’s cheek and brought a hand up to stroke the back of her hair.  
  
  
“Want some tea, honey?”  
  
  
Willow nodded eagerly.  
  
  
“Yes, please.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied, scooting to the edge of the seat before leaning over again and pressing her lips against Willow’s, lingering for several seconds before pulling back and leaving another quick peck against her, “Be right back.”  
  
  
Willow watched her wife leave with a giddy grin on her face before turning to Michelle, noticing the woman had removed her hand and was pretending to be interested in an invisible piece of lint on her shirt.  
  
  
“Sorry. Hope we didn’t make you uncomfortable. We’ve been…extra smoochy lately.”  
  
  
“Nothing to apologise for,” Michelle replied, looking up again, having simply been giving the couple a moment. She then looked at Willow with a deep sincerity and took one of her hands between both of her own. “Thank you for making her happy.”  
  
  
Willow looked slightly shocked at the words but just smiled and shook her head.  
  
  
“No need to thank me,” she replied, then put a hand on her stomach, “She’s the one who gave me my tiny Tara.”  
  
  
Michelle smiled fondly.  
  
  
“That baby will be simply beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement before looking at Michelle curiously.   
  
  
“I know you were only able to see her sporadically growing up…did you ever see her as a baby?”  
  
  
Tara appeared back in the room at that moment with another mug and retook her seat.  
  
  
“See who as a baby?”  
  
  
“You, baby,” Willow gigged as she took the mug, “Thank you.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Tara replied, sitting as close to Willow as she could and playing with the strands of her hair again, “Did you see me as a baby? I only have very vague memories of shopping trips to Buffalo when you’d show up, but I didn’t know who you were really.”   
  
  
Michelle smiled sadly at the circumstances that had been present all those years ago but decided to focus on the positives.  
  
  
“I actually saw you before anyone else. Your mother went into labour when we were out shopping for some toys for your nursery, the New Year’s sales had just started, and you almost came right there in the store, the ambulance arrived just in time. Your father had to come from Rochester, so I had a few minutes at the hospital with you and your mother,” she said, looking over to Tara affectionately, “I had to sneak out before he arrived…but I did give you your very first cuddle.”  
  
  
Tara smiled a small smile.  
  
  
“I didn’t know that.”  
  
  
“Was she adorable?” Willow interjected, sticking her tongue out between her teeth, “I bet she was adorable. How could she not be?”  
  
  
Michelle smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“Tara’s never shown you any photos?”  
  
  
Michelle watched as Tara dropped her head and Willow wrapped an arm around her, giving her shoulder a squeeze.  
  
  
“Her dad threw any pictures in the house into a fire,” Willow explained to Michelle “You know…after.”  
  
  
“Tara, I’d wish I’d known that,” Michelle said hurriedly, reaching for her purse at her feet and pulling out a small, hardback book with the word ‘memories’ etched on the front, “I kept all the ones your mother sent me, and the few we managed to snap together. I brought my book because I was going to ask you if you’d mind me making a copy of one of the scans and wanted to keep it safe.”  
  
  
“Baby Tara photos?” Willow asked in disbelief as Michelle handed the book over and opened it, the first plastic pocket holding an old photograph of a six-month-old blonde-haired baby in a pink dress, nibbling on a teething ring, “Baby Tara photos!”  
  
  
Tara left her cup of coffee she’d picked up again when she’d sat down on the coffee table and traced the corner of the plastic with a single finger as she looked at the infant version of herself and watched herself grow into a toddler as Willow flicked through the inserts.  
  
  
“You’ve never seen any of these?” Michelle questioned as she saw the look of slight awe on her niece’s face.  
  
  
Tara shook her head wordlessly and smiled as she saw a two-year-old version of herself surrounded by trees that she thought she recognised as a forest near her childhood home that her mother took her to picnics in, clutching a plain brown teddy bear.  
  
  
“Bobo,” she whispered, not even realising she had said it.  
  
  
“Bobo the bear?” Willow questioned, making Tara blush.  
  
  
“I guess I wasn’t the most inventive child.”  
  
  
“No, no,” Willow shook her head with a wide smile, “I had a Bobo too.”  
  
  
“You did?” Tara asked, her eyes and voice softening.  
  
  
Willow nodded, then frowned.  
  
  
“My mom threw him out when one of his eyes fell off.”  
  
  
Tara gave Willow's shoulder a comforting squeeze, then smiled a quiet smile and tapped the photo where Bobo was.  
  
  
“I set my Bobo free when I turned 8 and decided I was too old for teddies. He’s probably lost in one of those trees right now.”  
  
  
“Your mom gave him to the local children’s hospital,” Michelle interjected, “I remember her telling me she picked him back up when you weren’t looking, and when you didn’t miss him after a week or two, she gave him away.”  
  
  
Tara smiled at the thought, hoping her childhood bear had managed to bring some joy to another kid before she felt all the breath leave her lungs as Willow flicked to the next photo.  
  
  
Her eyes bore into the picture, a more recognisable version of herself, at what she figured was her seventh or eighth birthday, holding a balloon and grinning a toothless grin while her mother knelt beside her, an arm wrapped around her waist and smiling in a way that sent a pang of melancholy to Tara’s heart.  
  
  
It was the first time in more than 20 years she’d seen the image of her mother as she remembered her; most of Michelle’s photos around her house of when the two of them were young, and it was the first time ever she’d seen a photo of just her and her mom.   
  
  
“Is that your mom?” Willow asked, though Tara was too absorbed in her own feeling to answer, instead shakily taking the photo from its pocket and holding it up to her face.  
  
  
“Keep it,” Michelle said softly as she saw Tara clutching the photo for dear life, “I have another copy.”  
  
  
Tara acknowledged what her aunt had said with a short nod but stayed silent until she felt Willow’s head come to rest on her shoulder.  
  
  
“You look just like her.”  
  
  
Tara tore her gaze away from the photo to look at Willow.  
  
  
“You think?” she asked, her tone resembling that of a hopeful child.  
  
  
“You definitely do,” Michelle agreed, “Those Monroe features are strong.”  
  
  
Tara looked back to the photo, a happy grin on her face and felt Willow leave a warm kiss against her ear.  
  
  
“We’ll get you a really nice frame for that.”  
  
  
Tara nodded and gestured in front of them.  
  
  
“Put it above the fireplace with all the other family photos.”  
  
  
“Definitely,” Willow nodded before giggling, “You’ve always had that perfect little crooked smile.”  
  
  
Michelle smiled widely then.  
  
  
“She’s been melting hearts since the day she was born.”  
  
  
“I can believe that,” Willow replied, making Tara blush again.  
  
  
She turned to put the photo in her hands in-between two pages of a magazine on the coffee table to keep it safe until she had time to move it and get a frame, then shot her aunt a grateful look.  
  
  
“Thank you for showing me these. You can get copies of the scans, of course.”  
  
  
Michelle took her photo book back and secured the scan photos in an empty back pocket.  
  
  
“I’ll get you a copy of each of these as well.”  
  
  
“Yes!” Willow agreed enthusiastically, “I want access to baby Tara all the time.”  
  
  
Tara laughed and started to rub Willow’s belly.  
  
  
“You have baby Tara in there!”  
  
  
“Hey watch it,” Willow squirmed and giggled, “That’s my bladder, not my tiny Tara, and I’m filled with a lot of tea!”  
  
  
Tara stilled her hand but didn’t remove it from her wife’s stomach as she leant down to kiss her softly. She felt Willow smile against her and couldn’t help giving the bump a light squeeze before pulling away when she noticed Michelle awkwardly looking around the room out of the corner of her eye.  
  
  
“I should go.”  
  
  
“Sorry,” Tara replied apologetically, but stayed firmly curled into Willow’s side, “You don’t have to, we’ll stop.”  
  
  
“No, no,” Michelle shook her head as she stood, “Ira’s taking me to the theatre tonight, so I better go home to start getting ready. I’ll just say hello to JJ first, if he’s around.”  
  
  
“In the back yard,” Tara replied, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb, “Watch out from some airborne cars.”  
  
  
Michelle smiled and nodded before making her way from the room, towards the kitchen to the back doors. Tara looked after her self-consciously but heard Willow reassure her a moment later.  
  
  
“It’s okay, I told her we’ve been extra smoochy.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head back towards Willow and grinned, putting a finger under her chin and leaning down so their lips were just a hairbreadths apart.  
  
  
“I just can’t get enough of you.”  
  
  
Willow gasped as Tara’s mouth descended on hers in a smouldering kiss and wrapped her arms around her wife’s neck to respond as eagerly as she could. They kissed deeply for several long moments as Willow brought her palm to Tara’s cheek before eventually pulling away, breathless.   
  
  
Willow tapped her fingertips against Tara’s jaw and dropped moved their foreheads together, sighing softly.  
  
  
“Remind me to have your babies more often.”  
  
  
Tara pecked her wife’s lips again before wrapping her arm around the redhead’s shoulders, resting her head atop her wife’s.  
  
  
“I want to kiss you just ‘cause you’re you.”  
  
  
Willow contentedly snuggled into her wife’s side before a glossy flash caught her eye. Michelle had left her purse and the photo book where she’d been sitting, and the book had fallen open to the first picture, of baby Tara in the pink dress. She picked up the photo book and rested it in her lap.  
  
  
“I hope our little one looks just like you.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and ran her hand up and down Willow’s arm.  
  
  
“With some baby-Willow freckles. And those big eyes. He or she will know how to pout before they can even walk.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly.  
  
  
“Well, it’s a family trait.”  
  
  
“I love our family,” Tara replied, pressing a kiss against Willow’s temple, “I’m so glad you always take photos of everything. I didn’t even realise how important it was until right now. You’ve documented our whole relationship.”  
  
  
“You’re so photogenic, what can I say?” Willow grinned, “Can’t blame me for wanting to capture your perfection.”  
  
  
Tara gave Willow’s shoulder a squeeze before suddenly standing up and walking over to the bookcase, searching for a moment before grabbing something. She spun around, holding what revealed to be one of their photo albums in both hands, then sauntered back to the sofa and reclaimed her spot, opening the album on both of their laps.  
  
  
“Wow,” Willow giggled, “I haven’t looked at these in forever.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as they silently flicked through a few pages of random candids were the landed on a blown-up photograph of the two of them, taken more than 10 years before. They were sitting in a booth at a bar, sideways so that Willow was leaning back against Tara, faces slightly flushed from dancing. Tara’s head were resting on Willow’s shoulder and her hands were on the redhead’s stomach and both were grinning as if they’d been told to pose for the camera, and were then caught mid-laugh.  
  
  
“That was your 20th birthday,” Tara recalled with a fond smile, “I think this was the first photo we ever took together.”  
  
  
Willow looked down at the smiling faces, then over to Tara.  
  
  
“Have we changed?”  
  
  
Tara twirled the end of her wife’s hair in her fingers.  
  
  
“Your hair is longer.”  
  
  
Willow laughed and nodded.  
  
  
“My hair is longer. I had the mom haircut when I wasn't even a mom,” she relied as she settled back against her wife, “And we grew up I guess. No more eating applesauce for breakfast on a Sunday morning and watching cartoons in our dorm.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she remembered what had been their Sunday-morning routine for quite a long time, then shot her wife a sceptical look.  
  
  
“So that wasn’t SpongeBob you were watching with JJ this morning?”  
  
  
Willow laughed and shot the blonde a winning smile.  
  
  
“Guess some things don’t change.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head and pressed her lips against the side of Willow’s cheek in a series of soft kisses.  
  
  
“You’re still the beautiful, carefree soul I fell in love with.”  
  
  
“And you’re still the magical, soulful beauty who makes me swoon with her smile,” Willow replied, getting a swoon-worthy smile for her words, “So, I guess some things will change, but…”  
  
  
Tara grinned and squeezed her wife as tightly as she could.  
  
  
“We’ll be forever.”


	42. Chapter 42

Willow stretched back in her office chair as she closed her eyes to give them a break from the glaring screens of the computers surrounding her. Her hands rested comfortably on top of her bump and she was just wondering how much longer she had before she could sneak away to her weekly lunch date with Tara when she was startled from thought by the shrill ring of her cell phone.  
  
  
She surged forwards in her seat and started hitting the keyboard at random as if she’d been caught slacking by the boss, then realised it was just her phone. She reached across to pick it up and smiled widely when she saw “Wifey” flashing across the screen with a picture of the two of them taken at their anniversary party behind – Willow liked a daily reminder of just how sexy how her wife had looked in that tie.  
  
  
She relaxed back into her seat and slid her finger across the screen to accept the call before bringing it up to her ear.  
  
  
“Hello sweetie-pie, don’t worry I haven’t forgotten our lunch date.”  
  
  
She listened to Tara speak on the other end and her face instantly fell.  
  
  
“Aww, really? Why? We haven’t missed a Wednesday lunch date since we started. Did you get called away at work?”  
  
  
She listened in confusion as Tara scrambled over her words for a few moments before finally revealing the reason she wasn’t going to be able to meet her for lunch.  
  
  
“YOU’RE WHERE?!” Willow yelled, jumping up from her seat and searching frantically around her for her purse as Tara tried to alleviate her from the other end, “No I will not calm down! What the hell happened?!”  
  
  
She finally located her purse and grabbed it before rushing towards the door as Tara expressed concern for the baby in her frantic state.  
  
  
“I’m sure the baby’s just as upset as I am that its mother’s in the damn hospital!! I’ll be there in 15 minutes, don’t you move an inch!”  
  
  
She cut the call off to the sounds of Tara pleading with her to drive safely and ran down the hallway of the open-plan office to the elevators, to the left of which were Jesse and Xander huddled over a desk, but both looked up as she rushed past them.  
  
  
“Whoa, Will, where’s the fire?” Xander asked good-naturedly.  
  
  
“Tara’s in hospital,” Willow replied hurriedly as she repeatedly hit the elevator button frenziedly, “Come on, come on.”  
  
  
Both Xander and Jesse shot up at that, Jesse’s hand going to his gun.  
  
  
“Her dad?!”  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked, her head snapping back in surprise, “No. No! Why? Do you know something? Did he get out?!”  
  
  
“No!” Xander reassured quickly and looked to Jesse for back-up.  
  
  
“No, we’d know, we’d definitely know. Unless he’s Houdini he’s not getting out as long as I have this badge,” Jesse guaranteed, before putting his hands up apologetically, “I just thought...sorry.”  
  
  
Willow took a shaky breath as that possible scenario sobered her and let it out slowly.  
  
  
“She got in a car accident. Just a fender bender, she said.”  
  
  
Both Xander and Jesse visibly relaxed and Xander leant back against the desk, holding onto the edge.  
  
  
“Is she okay?”  
  
  
Willow gave a worried shrug and jabbed the elevator button again.  
  
  
“I think so. I’m going to check now.”  
  
  
“Yea, yea, of course,” Jesse nodded, “Take as much time as you need.”  
  
  
“Let us know she’s okay,” Xander added but didn’t get a response as they elevator doors finally opened and Willow skidded in, pressing the ‘door close’ button with the same urgency as before.  
  
  
She silently cursed every single person who got on the elevator and delayed her descent to the underground car park and intently watched the numbered buttons light up from ‘20’ where she’d gotten on until it finally settled on ‘UG’ and she pushed her way from the back through the suited men and women and started to run towards her black Mercedes, hidden in the middle of the car park amongst the throngs of SUVs, though without her usual calm mind to seek it out.  
  
  
She wished for a second that she hadn’t been so adamant in having the flashy one of their cars; at least the red dodge would have stood out, even if it didn’t have the same slick interior and cool features. The thought of what was primarily her wife’s car reminded her why she was in the car park at the odd hour in the first place and she scrambled for her keys, clicking the unlock button and seeing her car’s lights flash just a few feet ahead.  
  
  
She rushed ahead and threw herself into the driver’s seat, starting the engine less than a second later before catching sight of herself in the rear-view mirror and made herself stop for a second.  
  
  
“Two car accidents in one day isn’t going to help anybody,” she murmured to herself with a deep breath as her knuckles tightly gripped the steering wheel. She composed herself for a moment before looking down at her stomach, “It’s okay, little bean, I’m gonna keep us safe. And Mommy’s just fine, don’t you worry.”  
  
  
She let one hand fall to her stomach, holding it there as she took one final calming breath before moving it back to the wheel and reversing out of the spot, dodging between the rows of cars until she was able to flash her ID to the machine at the exit and merged onto the road.  
  
  
She thankfully sailed through the streets, hitting them right before the mob of lunchtime traffic came through and managed to find a parking space right outside the entrance to the emergency room, pulling in right behind a car that was pulling out.  
  
  
She leapt out of the car and shakily slipped some quarters into the parking meter before rushing into the ER. The waiting room was filled with people cradling different parts of their bodies but her focus looked past them completely as she saw the sealed doors to the actual ER slide open as a doctor walked through and she skid in, ignoring the protests she heard coming from the other side and looking around desperately until she felt someone grab her arm and looked over to see a short-ish woman in a nurses uniform trying to pull her back.  
  
  
“Ma’am, you need to go back to the triage area so we can assess you properly. Please go back outside wait.”  
  
  
Willow yanked her arm back.  
  
  
“You do NOT want to mess with a pregnant lady!” she said with an aggressive look towards the nurse trying to stop her before hearing her name called very softly from somewhere behind her.  
  
  
“Willow.”  
  
  
She spun around in place before finally spotting Tara just ahead, sitting with her legs swinging off a hospital bed, looking all in one piece apart from a large white bandage taped to her forehead. She rushed over – missing the nurse’s exasperated sigh as she moved away and decided to just let Willow go – and grabbed Tara’s shoulders.   
  
  
“Oh baby,” she said forlornly as she looked at the bandage.  
  
  
Tara touched the side of the bandage gingerly.  
  
  
“Just a cut.”  
  
  
Willow started moving her hands down Tara’s body, patting her everywhere.  
  
  
“Are you okay? Are you alright? Are you hurt?”  
  
  
Tara let herself be checked out and sighed.  
  
  
“I’m sorry about the car. Insurance will cover it.”  
  
  
“I don’t give a crap about the car,” Willow replied, her hands going to Tara’s cheeks, “Baby, what happened?”  
  
  
“A guy ran into me at a stoplight,” Tara responded, still looking apologetic, “Sorry I had to call you from work. The car was towed and I’m not allowed drive anyway.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head in confusion and disbelief.  
  
  
“Why, why are you apologising for that? Of course I’m gonna come get you.”  
  
  
Tara just ducked her head but Willow didn’t have a chance to say anything else as a stocky man approached them, also in nurses’ scrubs, carrying a plastic cup of water and a small circular container with some pills in them. Willow dropped her hands as he handed them to Tara and pulled the curtain around them for privacy before eyeing Willow.  
  
  
“Hi, I’m Matt, a nurse here. Who are you?”  
  
  
Willow cast a sidelong glance towards Tara.  
  
  
“I’m her ride, apparently.”  
  
  
She saw Tara give a small smile at that which made her smile too but the moment was short as the nurse continued talking to Tara.  
  
  
“Those are antibiotics and painkillers. You’ll need to take both for the next few days, you can collect them in the pharmacy on the way out, the doctor already issued them the prescription,” he said, before throwing a look in Willow’s direction, then back at Tara with a raised eyebrow, “Do you have somebody who can stay with you for the next day or so? A boyfriend, or parent?”  
  
  
Tara was in the middle of swallowing the pills and had to make a concentrated effort not to choke while Willow just put a hand on her knee.  
  
  
“You know something, baby, I’m getting really sick of people not realising we’re a couple,” she spoke to Tara, though was looking the nurse dead in the eye, “I mean, I think I should maybe get a tattoo on my hand with a little arrow that says ‘Tara’s ring’. Whaddya think, huh? Or maybe I could get a t-shirt with another arrow that says ‘Tara’s baby’. Or _maybe_ I’ll get a pair of panties that says ‘property of–”  
  
  
Tara finally found her throat cleared and able to speak, so she grabbed Willow’s hand.  
  
  
“I think he gets it.”  
  
  
“Yes,” Matt replied, one hand nervously scratching his head, “Sorry. I just meant someone needed to stay with her because of the concussion, but obviously, you will be.”  
  
  
Willow lost all sense of self-righteousness she had been planning on unleashing on the nurse and turned back to Tara, putting her hands on her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“You have a concussion? Baby, [i]what happened[i]?”  
  
  
Tara looked unforthcoming, but eventually answered.  
  
  
“He rear-ended me and I knocked my head against the windshield.”  
  
  
Willow visibly seethed and dropped her hands as they balled into fists by her sides.  
  
  
“Is he here?” she asked, then spun around to the nurse, “Is he here?!”  
  
  
Matt, rightly, looked terrified and just about managed to shake his head  
  
  
“Ma’am, I can’t discuss any other patients with you.”  
  
  
Willow was about to launch into an angry tangent but kept her mouth closed as she felt Tara take her hand and fold out her fist before putting it over her heart, the steady thumping having the desired effect of calming redhead down.  
  
  
“Please, Willow. Please.”  
  
  
Willow’s other hand flattened against her side and she brought the one on Tara’s chest up to her hair, stroking it softly before glancing over at the nurse.  
  
  
“What do I need to do?”  
  
  
Matt nodded to himself, thankful a full-blown scene hadn’t spun out of control and started to disclose the list of instructions.  
  
  
“She needs to be monitored for at least the next 24 hours, if there’s any change in her behaviour, speech, if she seems confused, if there’s any blurred vision or excessive vomiting, come back right away. If she falls asleep and you can’t wake her, call 911. Try and rouse her periodically just to make sure you can. I have a sheet here you can look to for guidance. If you feel anything’s wrong at all, come back or call an ambulance.”  
  
  
“Got it,” Willow nodded as she took the folded sheet the man produced from his breast pocket, “You’re gonna be fine, honeybunch.”  
  
  
“I know,” Tara replied with a small smile, before looking towards the nurse, “I need to come back, right?”  
  
  
“Come back in 3 or 4 days to be checked again,” Matt responded, “You don’t need an appointment, but don’t leave it any longer than 5.”  
  
  
“Okay, we will,” Willow nodded, “Is there anything else? Anything I can do?”  
  
  
Matt shook his head.  
  
  
“Just keep her hydrated and relaxed. No aspirin. No alcohol. It was a very mild concussion so any symptoms should be completely gone in a week to 10 days.”  
  
  
“Well she’ll be taken care of,” Willow replied, speaking more to Tara though she was addressing the nurse, “Can I take her home now?”  
  
  
“Yes, her discharge papers have been signed, you just need to collect her prescription,” Matt responded before looking to Tara, “You’re still feeling alright, ma’am? No change from when the doctor last assessed you?”  
  
  
Tara nodded weekly.  
  
  
“Just tired.”  
  
  
“The pills can cause that, along with everything else,” Matt replied sympathetically, “Take it easy and rest up. Rest is the number one treatment for a concussion.”  
  
  
“I’ll make sure of it,” Willow responded with an affectionate squeeze to the side of Tara’s head and a grateful smile to the nurse, “Thank you.”  
  
  
Matt just gave a warm nod and disappeared around the curtain while Willow held out her hand in offering.  
  
  
“Come on, lady, let me get you home.”  
  
  
Tara took Willow’s hand and slid off the end of the bed. She felt Willow drop her hand once her feet were firmly on the floor, then wrap it around her waist.   
  
  
“Could you grab my purse? It’s on the floor somewhere.”  
  
  
Willow found Tara’s purse on the floor behind them and swung it over her shoulder before pulling the curtain back from around them.  
  
  
They walked at an easy pace out of the ER and down a hallway that directed them to the pharmacy where they collected the bag of medication waiting for them before Willow guided them to where she’d parked the car and opened the passenger side door for her wife, dropping Tara’s purse and the bag of medication to the floor at her feet.  
  
  
Tara wasn’t sure if it was the painkillers or the relief and warmth she felt now that Willow was there, but as soon as she sat into the car, she couldn’t keep her eyes open, as much she tried. Willow noticed the moment she sat in the driver’s seat.  
  
  
“Do you wanna nap, honey? Wait, if you’re gonna sleep, put the seat back so you don’t get a sore neck too.”  
  
  
She shifted in the seat so she could reach over and turn the dial on the side of Tara’s seat that made it go down. When Tara was in a semi-reclining position, she secured the integrated seat belt across the blonde’s chest, then felt fingertips lightly caressing her upper arm and heard her wife speak.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
Willow took Tara’s hand from her arm and brought it up to her mouth to kiss her knuckles before cradling it between both of her hands.  
  
  
“Everything’s okay.”  
  
  
“I know,” Tara replied as she took her hand back and rested it under her head as she let her eyes flutter closed, “You’re here.”  
  
  
Willow watched as Tara slipped into slumber within seconds before tentatively turning the engine on and smiled to herself when it didn’t wake her wife up again.  
  
  
She drove the slowest she ever had, ignoring the annoyed beeps and numerous visions of a certain finger cast in her direction, making certain one hand held Tara’s head lightly against the seat over each speed bump until she finally pulled into their driveway and turned the engine off with a relieved sigh. She turned the engine off and held the keys in one hand while reaching across to stroke Tara’s face with the other.  
  
  
“Baby, we’re home.”  
  
  
She continued to try and ease her wife from sleep but when she stayed firmly asleep after a few seconds, she panicked and grabbed the blonde’s shoulder, shaking it.  
  
  
“Tara!”  
  
  
Tara instantly jolted awake and Willow held a hand up against her own heart in relief.   
  
  
“Sorry, baby. You weren’t waking up. We’re home,” she repeated and saw Tara start to try and sit up, “Gently...”  
  
  
She helped get the seat back up to its normal position, then rushed out of the car and around to the passenger side as Tara started to get out.  
  
  
“I’m okay, sweetie,” Tara assured as she stood by herself and picked up her purse and prescription bag, but let the redhead help her into the house nonetheless.  
  
  
“Um, you can go up to bed,” Willow said as she closed the front door, then turned to face Tara, her hands clasped in front of her, “But maybe you should stay awake. Just for 10 minutes. So I know you’re okay.”  
  
  
Tara gave a tired nod as she let her purse fall to the ground and put the bag of medications on the little table by the door.  
  
  
“Sure.”  
  
  
Willow saw her wife’s tired features and gestured to the stairs.  
  
  
“You can go right up if you’re really tired, I’ll just wake you in a little bit.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head with a small smile.  
  
  
“No, it’s okay. That cat nap did me wonders. I feel a lot better. Not as fuzzy.”  
  
  
“Excellent,” Willow replied and dropped a kiss on Tara’s cheek, “Why don’t you go relax in the living room. I’ll bring you in some juice.”  
  
  
Tara slowly made her way into the living room as Willow scurried off to the kitchen, and sat down on the sofa, closing her eyes to appreciate the silence and comfort of her own home after what had been a horrible morning in a loud and uncomfortable ER.  
  
  
She stayed almost perfectly still until she heard footsteps nearing her and quickly opened her eyes again to see Willow walking into the room.  
  
  
“Just resting,” Tara reassured, “All okay.”  
  
  
Willow just smiled and nodded, then handed Tara the glass.  
  
  
“Cranberry. I don’t know how it is for concussions but it works a treat for urinary tract infections so it can’t hurt.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small, silent laugh and patted the sofa beside her.  
  
  
“Sit with me.”  
  
  
Willow took the spot offered and smiled as Tara adjusted herself so she was lying horizontally with her head in her wife’s lap, letting her eyes flutter closed again. Willow started to stroke Tara’s hair on the side opposite the bandage so as not to disturb it and they were quiet for a few minutes before curiosity got the better of her.  
  
  
“Where were you going?”  
  
  
Tara was enjoying the comforting touch too much to understand the question.  
  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
  
“Where were you going?” Willow repeated, before clarifying, “When you got in the accident?”  
  
  
“To work,” Tara replied as if it was obvious, taking a long sip of her juice before reaching out to put the glass back on the coffee table.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes widened in surprise and her hand stopped.  
  
  
“This happened this morning? You were in the hospital all morning? Why didn’t you call me?”  
  
  
Tara sighed and tried to nuzzle her head against Willow’s hand to get her to start up the actions again.  
  
  
“I didn’t want to worry you with the CT and everything until I knew it was clear.”  
  
  
Willow’s mouth hung open in shock.  
  
  
“You had a CT scan?! God, Tara!”  
  
  
Tara opened her eyes at her wife’s shocked and concerned tone and saw Willow looking at her intently.  
  
  
“Tara, I’m your wife, that is the exact kind of thing you need to worry me about.”  
  
  
Tara brought a hand up and placed her palm flat against Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“The baby.”  
  
  
“I’m not gonna let anything happen to the baby. I am perfectly capable of taking care of you both, and JJ,” Willow replied, shaking her head for a moment before looking back down at Tara, “What would you do, if say, I thought I was going into pre-term labour but I didn’t tell you until after I’d gone to hospital and gone through it all by myself?”  
  
  
Tara frowned and nervously played with her fingers in her lap.  
  
  
“I’d be upset.”  
  
  
“You’d be furious. Rightly so,” Willow replied, then put one hand over Tara’s and gave them a squeeze, “We’re not a team for nothing.”  
  
  
“I’m sorry,” Tara replied, reaching up to stroke Willow’s cheek before dropping it down meekly to her side, “I was really scared.”  
  
  
“Oh Tara,” Willow replied sympathetically and gently pulled her wife up into a hug, “It’s all okay now.”  
  
  
Tara hugged back as best she could in the position and felt Willow kiss her neck with a final tight squeeze before slipping out from under her and guiding her back into a lying position as she knelt beside her on the floor.  
  
  
“Have a rest. Can I get you anything?” Willow asked and Tara just shook her head ‘no’, “Okay, well, I’m just going to call and see if someone can get JJ. I guess Michelle and Alice already know about the accident if you didn’t show up to work. I’m surprised one of them didn’t call me even if you didn’t.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“I just called my boss and told her but asked her not to say anything. She probably told them I needed a personal day for a baby scan with you or something.”  
  
  
Willow put her elbow on the armrest and rested her head on her palm with a pointed look up.  
  
  
“Called your boss and not your wife. Don’t ever do that again.”  
  
  
Tara nodded assuredly.  
  
  
“Promise,” she said and leant down to softly brush her lips against Willow’s before settling back down, “Sealed with a kiss.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and dropped a kiss on her wife’s nose before standing.  
  
  
“Okay, I’m gonna call Buffy. She’s only working half days this week because of departmental reviews, I’ll call and see if she can take care of JJ this evening,” she said and cut off Tara with a look when she saw her wife was about to protest, “Just for tonight. You need a quiet house and to be able to rest. ”  
  
  
Tara conceded the point and nodded.  
  
  
“Okay. Ask her to swing by with him on their way back from school. He’ll be worried otherwise.”  
  
  
“I will,” Willow promised and put two fingers against her lips, then pressed them against Tara’s lips, “Love you.”  
  
  
“Love you too,” Tara replied sleepily as a fresh wave of exhaustion washed over her.  
  
  
She watched Willow leave and grabbed one of the cushions to put under her head. She closed her eyes as she heard the muffled sound of her wife’s voice on the phone from the other room, but soon drifted off into unconsciousness again.  
  
  
The next time she awoke was more pleasant than the time before as she responded more quickly to Willow stroking her cheek and didn’t need to be jolted awake.  
  
  
“Still not in a coma, that’s what I like to see,” Willow joked as she watched Tara’s eyes blink repeatedly before finally focusing on her, “Hi, sleepyhead. Buffy should be dropping by with JJ soon, I thought you’d want to be awake to reassure him you’re okay.”  
  
  
Tara smacked her lips together to get some moisture back in her mouth and started to sit up.  
  
  
“Yes, definitely,” she nodded and stretched her arms in front of her, “Was I out long?”  
  
  
“Couple of hours,” Willow replied as she sat next to Tara on the sofa and started to give her shoulders a gentle rub, “My trusty sheet said it fine to leave you that long. And I was looking it up on the internet and it all said I didn’t need to bug you every 10 minutes or anything. How are you feeling?”  
  
  
“Headache,” Tara admitted with a soft sigh, “But I’ve had worse. Nowhere near as bad as when I had migraines.”  
  
  
Willow moved her hands down to Tara’s upper arms and gave them a squeeze as she rested her head on her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
“You can take more painkillers in about half an hour,” she said and placed a gentle kiss against Tara’s ear before both of their attention was drawn to the windows as they saw the metallic blue car that Buffy had had to buy for herself when Angel refused to ever let her drive his car, “You stay resting.”  
  
  
Tara complied and sat back into the sofa as Willow left the room and went to the front door, opening it in time to see Buffy opening the car door for JJ and him flying down the pathway towards the house, throwing himself around his mother’s leg.  
  
  
“Aunt Buffy said Mommy had an accident.”  
  
  
Willow bent down on her knees and hugged her son tight.  
  
  
“She did, but she’s just fine. I bet she’d love a hug from her special little guy,” she said as she pulled back and stroked his hair, “Mommy hurt her head so you have to be quiet and gentle, okay?”  
  
  
JJ nodded solemnly and Willow ruffled his hair.  
  
  
“She’s in the living room.”  
  
  
JJ started to rush off but quickly hastened his speed and slowly walked towards the living room. He walked into the doorway but didn’t go any further.  
  
  
“Hi, honey,” Tara said as she saw the boy appear and brought a hand up to her bandage when she saw him just stare at it, “It doesn’t hurt too bad.”  
  
  
When JJ didn’t make any move to come any further in, she just held out her arms and found them filled in seconds; JJ burying his face into her chest.  
  
  
“I’m okay, sweetie,” she reassured and gently stroked his back but he remained completely silent, “Did Momma say to be quiet?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and Tara looked at him lovingly.  
  
  
“You can talk just not too loud.”  
  
  
JJ seemed to consider this, not sure if he could go against what Willow had told him, before deciding he hadn’t been told he had to be completely quiet and had been given permission anyway, so wrapped his arms around Tara as best he could.  
  
  
“I love you, Mommy,” he whispered.  
  
  
Tara felt a lump of emotion rise in her throat but quashed it down and tightly hugged her boy.  
  
  
“I love you too, Jakey.”  
  
  
Outside, Willow was handing Buffy an overnight bag with the things he’d need for the evening and the next day at school.  
  
  
“Thank you so much for doing this,” she said as she looked through to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.  
  
  
“No problem, he’s my favourite dude under 30,” Buffy replied, accepting the bag and throwing it over her shoulder, “How’s the patient?”  
  
  
“She’s okay,” Willow responded with a sigh, “She just needs to take it easy.”  
  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
  
“What happened?”  
  
  
Willow set her jaw in annoyance and folded her arms across her chest.  
  
  
“Some jackass slammed into her at a stoplight.”  
  
  
Buffy whistled disapprovingly and shook her head.  
  
  
“Wow somebody in the city who drives worse than me.”  
  
  
Willow cracked a smile at that but didn’t have a chance to say anything as JJ appeared at her leg again. Buffy held out her hand for him.  
  
  
“Ready, buddy?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and took Buffy’s hand.  
  
  
“Will Uncle Angel play video games with me?”  
  
  
Buffy nodded and smiled.  
  
  
“For sure.”  
  
  
Willow clasped her hands in front of her and squeezed her own palms.  
  
  
“Nothing violent, I hope?”  
  
  
Buffy shook her head.  
  
  
“Nah, he’s old school. Mario and Sonic are his lifetime pals. Sometimes Crash Bandicoot joins the party.”  
  
  
  
“Okay, well, have fun,” Willow replied with a smile, “I would say no junk food but I’m pretty sure you don’t consume anything else.”  
  
  
Buffy scoffed indignantly.  
  
  
“What are you talking about? Didn't you hear the government declared pizza a vegetable? That makes me the healthiest girl in Buffalo.”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Willow replied, unconvinced, “Just don’t let him gorge or you’ll be dealing with some nasty after effects.”  
  
  
“Got it,” Buffy said with a thumbs up sign before starting to walk back towards her car, JJ by her side, “Alright, come on, dude. Hey, you wanna start learning how to drive?”  
  
  
Buffy looked back right in time to see the horror on Willow’s face and burst out laughing.  
  
  
“Just kidding,” she called back in the redhead’s direction before throwing a wink at JJ who smiled for the first time since Buffy has collected him.  
  
  
Willow stayed at the door and waved the car off, mostly just to check that JJ was strapped securely into the [i]back[i] seat until it turned the corner at the top of the street and she closed it. She made her way back towards the living room but quickly ran into the room in alarm when she saw tears streaming down her wife’s cheeks.  
  
  
“What is it, what's wrong? Do I need to call an ambulance? Baby, talk to me.”  
  
  
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Tara reassured, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, a wide smile on her face, “We have an amazing son.”   
  
  
Willow sank onto the sofa and closed her eyes as a relieved exhalation left her lips before opening them with a soft smile.  
  
  
“Yea, we do.”  
  
  
“He didn’t see my cry, don’t worry,” Tara said, waving her hands in her lap in indication, “He wouldn’t say anything because you told him to be quiet but I told him it was okay and he just hugged me and said he loves me.”  
  
  
“He’s a special one,” Willow agreed and reached out to cup Tara’s cheek, “You’re feeling okay?”  
  
  
Tara nodded gently, making Willow smile a little wider.  
  
  
“Good. Well, let me have a look at this cut.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes widened and she was about to voice a protest, but Willow had already peeled back the surgical tape and bandage and caught sight of her wound. Willow had to bite her tongue to stop the shriek of alarm that almost left her mouth and tried to speak calmly.  
  
  
“You didn’t tell me you needed stitches. When you said just a cut, I thought you meant a scratch, I mean, a bad scratch obviously but not...” she trailed off as Tara just looked at her apologetically and she tried to give a reassuring smile but still looked worried, “I, I don’t know how to treat these, I didn’t know, I didn’t ask.”  
  
  
“There’s antibiotic ointment in with the painkillers,” Tara replied quietly, “Clean and apply twice daily and avoid getting wet. They’ll come out when I go back for them to check me over in a few days.”  
  
  
Willow stared at the two-inch long laceration going diagonally down her wife’s forehead and counted each individual stitch until Tara’s voice piped up, obviously trying to relieve the tension.  
  
  
“I’ll have a little scar.”   
  
  
Willow tore her gaze away from the abrasion to meet her wife’s gaze.  
  
  
“Well I have one of those, too,” she replied, sharing a soft smile with her wife for a moment before sighing as she folded the bandage back over the cut and secured the tape, “Is there anything else? I’m not gonna see a back brace when you get changed into pyjamas, am I?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head before reaching down to pull her shirt up, revealing a nasty-looking bruise, dark purple in colour and rectangular in shape just under her right breast.  
  
  
“Just a bruise from the seatbelt. That’s it.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes flashed with anger as she saw the bruise.  
  
  
“What was that guy doing that he didn’t see you at a damn stoplight? And why didn’t the airbags activate?”  
  
  
“He told the police officer that showed up he was looking for a piece of paper with directions that had fallen onto the floor on the passenger side and lost his footing,” Tara explained before adding meekly, “And the car mustn’t have been going fast enough for the airbags or something.”  
  
  
“Fast enough for you knock your head against the windscreen,” Willow retorted, her jaw set in annoyance, “Were you even wearing your seatbelt?”  
  
  
Tara looked down quietly.  
  
  
“Of course I was.”  
  
  
Willow’s features softened as she registered her wife’s tired and almost timid tone and she took the blonde’s hand, bringing it up to her mouth to kiss her palm.   
  
  
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to grill you. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“Willow, the only good thing about that accident is that you weren’t there. And that the car wasn’t too banged up.”  
  
  
“I’ll look after all that, don’t worry,” Willow replied as she kept a hold of Tara’s hand but moved it down into her lap, “The insurance and stuff. I already called and reported it. And I called the repair shop. I presumed you would’ve called the same one we always take the cars to for services. The mechanic said they took photographs and everything if we need them for insurance and that there wasn’t too much damage, just the windshield and the bumper. He said we could have the car back by the end of the week.”  
  
  
“I got the other driver’s details,” Tara replied, before adding, “He was very apologetic.”   
  
  
“So he should be,” Willow responded, obvious disdain in her voice, “He should have been paying attention and you wouldn’t be hurt.”  
  
  
“It’s wasn’t that bad,” Tara tried to say convincingly, “Someone called an ambulance and they treated me on site but brought me to the hospital when they saw I needed stitches and couldn’t remember the accident. My memory all came back before we even got there but the doctor wanted to do the scan just in case. Then they just stitched me up and I was good to go.”  
  
  
Willow began to rub her temple as Tara conveyed what had happened and could only shake her head as her wife finished.  
  
  
“I’m still mad at you for not calling. I can’t believe you were dealing with all of that and I didn’t even know.”  
  
  
“I was just worried about the baby,” Tara replied, her voice breaking as her eyes filled with tears.  
  
  
Willow’s face fell as she saw she’d upset her wife and pulled their bodies together, gently cradling Tara’s head against her chest.  
  
  
“I know you were. I know you were,” she said insistently, dropping repeated kisses against the mess of blonde hair, “I love you for it.”  
  
  
She felt Tara relax in her embrace and cuddled her quietly for a minute or two before pulling away, taking her wife’s hand and giving her a warm smile.  
  
  
“But there’s no situation or circumstance that I don’t want to be there to hold your hand.”  
  
  
Tara nodded in understanding, feeling silly for her slight overreaction, but it had been a long and emotional day, and it was only the afternoon. She rested her head on Willow’s shoulder and gave a small smile.  
  
  
“I don’t plan on needing an emergency trip to a hospital again anytime soon.”  
  
  
“Good. I hate hospitals. I hate them,” Willow replied emphatically, pausing for a moment before the next words fell out of her mouth before she realised they were being said. “I don’t want the baby to be born in one.”  
  
  
Tara pulled away, looking surprised, bewildered and alarmed all at once.  
  
  
“Excuse me?”   
  
  
Willow brought a hand up to her own cheek and dragged it down to her neck in thought before shaking her head.  
  
  
“I’m sorry, this isn’t a good time for that kind of conversation,” Willow replied apologetically and started to stand, “Let me get your painkillers, you’re due your next dose.”  
  
  
“No, Willow, you can’t say something like that and then drop it,” Tara replied quickly, grabbing Willow’s arm and pulling her back down. “I’m concussed, not incapable of discussion.”  
  
  
Willow sat back down in her spot and took both of Tara’s hands in hers, fixing her with a steady gaze.  
  
  
“I’ve never been happy with the idea of giving birth in a hospital. It made me really uncomfortable whenever the doctor mentioned it but I shrugged it off as nothing. But it’s really not what I want. I don’t want 30 different people seeing my lady area and I don’t want the baby being born into machines and chaos and I don’t want that experience to be somewhere I hate so much.”  
  
  
Tara was speechless; her wife’s dislike of hospitals was something she was quite aware of, but this idea was coming out of left-field and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. However, her initial response was to err on the side of what she considered to be the safest route.  
  
  
“Look at the chaos JJ was born into in his first day of life. God only knows where he was actually born, he was left in a hectic ER, but we had him home within a day and he’s perfect. He couldn’t be more perfect. We could have the baby home in the same amount of time.”  
  
  
Tara could see her argument wasn’t swaying her wife in the slightest, confirmed by Willow a moment later.  
  
  
“We couldn’t control that. We can control this.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head; certain Willow was just having an irrational response to her accident.  
  
  
“This is just a reaction to what happened.”  
  
  
“No,” Willow shook her head as well, “You know how much I hate hospitals. I don’t want to give birth in one. I want to do it at home.”  
  
  
Tara internally tried to process everything and though the thought of not having as many medical professionals around as they needed when the time came, she certainly couldn’t deny Willow the right to choose the circumstances.  
  
  
“Okay. Okay, you can give birth however you want, of course,” she replied before looking at her wife intently, “But only if we find the best midwife in whole state. And only if we can get Dr. Well’s okay on it.”  
  
  
Willow gave an easy smile and nodded.  
  
  
“We can talk to her at our appointment next week. I’m sorry to spring that on you today of all days. It just came out.”  
  
  
“It’s okay,” Tara reassured before cracking a crooked smile, “But next time I have a head injury, try not to tell me something that will give me a heart attack.”  
  
  
Willow smiled too but it didn’t quite stretch as far as it could as she looked at Tara warily.  
  
  
“Are you really not comfortable with this idea?”  
  
  
Tara took a deep breath and answered honestly.  
  
  
“I will be once we know more and talk to the doctor about it.”  
  
  
Willow’s full smile broke out on her face and she nodded.  
  
  
“That sounds fair. But don’t worry about it ‘til then, okay? This isn’t a decision I get to make by myself, it’s our baby.”  
  
  
Tara gestured downwards.  
  
  
“It’s your body.”  
  
  
Willow squeezed Tara’s hand reassuringly.  
  
  
“I’m still not going to doing anything you’re not totally comfortable with.”  
  
  
Tara smiled gratefully.  
  
  
“Let’s just talk to the doctor.”  
  
  
Willow nodded and moved a hand to the opposite side of her wife’s head and pulled her in to place a lingering kiss on her other cheek.  
  
  
“Rest now. And sorry again. No more sudden declarations,” she said, before adding with a loving look, “Except to say I love you.”  
  
  
“I love you too,” Tara replied and threw her legs up onto the sofa, folding them behind her as her head went to Willow’s stomach, “And I love you too, little bean. No matter how you enter the world.”


	43. Chapter 43

“That bump is getting bigger by the day, I see,” Dr. Wells commented as Willow and Tara walked through the door into her office.  
  
  
Willow took the first seat, sitting down and resting her hands on her swollen belly with a grin.  
  
  
“Yep, I’m like Pringles! Once you pop, you can’t stop.”  
  
  
Tara looked over at her wife adoringly for her joke as she took the seat beside her and Dr. Wells chuckled as she too sat behind her desk. She looked like she was about to address Willow when she looked at Tara curiously instead, pointing at her forehead.   
  
  
“Are you alright, Tara? That looks like you’ve had stitches out.”  
  
  
Tara self-consciously pulled at the front of her hair to cover the still raised and slightly red scar that she knew would fade with time but was presently just making her wince every time she caught site of herself in the mirror.  
  
  
“I got in a minor car accident last week. Just a gash and concussion.”  
  
  
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dr. Wells replied sympathetically, “Are you recovering alright?”  
  
  
Tara nodded.  
  
  
“I don’t even have any headaches anymore.”  
  
  
“You’re lucky, I remember doing my neurology rotation in med school, we had to assess a patient who still had symptoms over 5 years later,” Dr. Wells responded with a small shake of her head, “So, Willow, how are you feeling? Anything new to report?”  
  
  
“Yes, actually,” Willow replied, taking Tara’s hand and holding it between their chairs, “But it’s not physical.”  
  
  
“Well that’s understandable,” Dr. Wells replied, her hands neatly clasped in front of her on her desk, “Your brain is going through as many changes as your body, the hormones are–”  
  
  
“No, no, sorry, that’s not what I mean,” Willow cut the doctor off apologetically, “I want to have a homebirth.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells looked surprised but not displeased.  
  
  
“Oh.”  
  
  
“I don’t like hospitals,” Willow started to explain without being asked, “They make me really uncomfortable, they always have. And I was reading up and a lot of those procedures seem unnecessary, and the C-section rate in this state seems way higher than others. I don’t want my child, our child, arriving into that kind of hysteria. My entire pregnancy has been about bringing this baby into the world with as much love and peace as possible. There’s nowhere more loving or more peaceful than our home.”  
  
  
“Well those are certainly valid reasons,” the doctor replied, neither her tone nor face giving much away, “Tara, how do you feel about this?”  
  
  
Tara looked to Willow for a moment; she was less apprehensive about the whole idea than she had been initially, having done a bit of research with Willow on what exactly it entailed. She knew the talk with the doctor today would seal her opinion one way or the other and she really wanted them to get as much information as possible.  
  
  
“I want Willow to give birth however she’s most comfortable. But I would like some more information. We’ve done our own research on the internet, but we really need some medical advice on it.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded and flattened her palms against the desk.  
  
  
“Well as a profession, a lot of medical bodies oppose home births over hospital delivery. However, I think it should be judged on a pregnancy-by-pregnancy and woman-by-woman basis. I’ve had many patients who have opted to go down that route and it’s gone ideally. If, however, you develop any kind of symptoms or conditions that put you in a high-risk pregnancy category, you would be risking both your own and your child’s life by having a home birth.”  
  
  
“I would never...” Willow trailed off as she shook her head, “If the baby needs to be in the hospital, I’ll call the ambulance myself.”  
  
  
“Good,” the doctor responded, “The first thing I will say about home births is to be prepared that they may turn into a hospital one and to have a contingency plan in place for that.”  
  
  
Willow nodded to herself as she processed that information and the room was silent for a few moments before Tara piped up.  
  
  
“But you would say it would be okay for Willow, for us, to go that route? It would be safe?”  
  
  
Dr. Wells nodded.  
  
  
“Yes, given how everything has gone so far and providing it continues in such a positive light, I can see no danger in you delivering at home. With a professional of course.”  
  
  
“Yes, of course,” Tara agreed, “That was one of our questions. What should we be looking for in a midwife? Or do you have any suggestions?  
  
  
“I happen to know a fantastic one,” Dr. Wells replied, reaching for her rolodex and starting to flick through, “She’s been a midwife for over 30 years and she set up her own practice 10 years ago. She’s a close friend of mine, but I can assure you that doesn’t influence my opinion of her professionally. We actually became friends from working together, so I know first-hand just how adept she is.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara replied as she accepted the card and read the name across the top, “Bethany Bennett, CNM.”  
  
  
“Certified Nurse Midwife,” the doctor explained, “It means she has specialised education and training in both Nursing and Midwifery.”  
  
  
“Oh that’s good,” Tara responded as she examined the card for another moment, before handing over for Willow to look at, “Do we just call her or do we need a referral?”  
  
  
“She only takes on a certain number of clients to make sure she’s available to all of them,” Dr. Wells replied, “So just give her a call and say I referred you and she will be able to tell you straight away whether she can add you to her schedule. If she can’t, come back to me, I know a lot of other wonderful midwifes that you can look to as well.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow spoke up as she fetched her wallet from her purse, slipping the card into one of the slots, “We’ll call today.”  
  
  
“Great. Let me know once you’ve settled on a midwife, regardless of who they are so I can send on your medical records. I’d still like if you attended me as regularly as you would if I was going to be delivering the baby myself. I know it might mean double appointments with your midwife as well as here, but I think it would provide you with the most optimum care. Most midwifes have no issue with working alongside a doctor and I’m happy to do the same with them.”  
  
  
“Definitely,” Tara replied, nodding enthusiastically, “We’d definitely want to keep seeing you.”  
  
  
“Yea, I’m just anti-hospital,” Willow added, “Not anti-you. You’ve been...wonderful. I wouldn’t want to go through the rest of my pregnancy without you.”  
  
  
“I’m honoured,” Dr. Wells replied genuinely with a smile to the two women, before standing, “If you had nothing else you wanted to bring up, shall we move to the scan?”  
  
  
“Yes, yes!” Willow replied, jumping up excitedly and rushing over to the table, jumping on and lifting her shirt up to just under her bra in seconds.  
  
  
“Enthusiasm is always a good thing to see,” Dr. Wells laughed as she made her way around her desk and over to the sonogram machine.  
  
  
“How could somebody not be enthusiastic about seeing their baby?” Willow asked, taking Tara’s hand as the blonde arrived by her side and wiggling her hips as she felt the cold jelly squirted on her belly.  
  
  
Dr. Wells put the probe in the middle of the jelly and started moving it around.  
  
  
“Most are. For some, it takes a while to get used to the idea.”  
  
  
Willow just smiled over at Tara.  
  
  
“Well we were used to the idea before the baby even got in there.”  
  
  
Dr. Wells smiled, then pointed to the screen.  
  
  
“And there’s the baby in question.”  
  
  
Willow and Tara watched in awe as the fuzzy shaped moved around the screen, not noticing the different lines cutting across it as the doctor some measurements. Tara looked as if she tried to reach out to touch the screen, but then dropped her hand to cradle Willow’s between both of hers.  
  
  
“Hi little bean,” she said softly, “You don't look much like a bean anymore.”  
  
  
“It’s a baby...” Willow added in awe, “It really, really looks like a baby.”  
  
  
“A baby of very healthy size,” Dr. Wells responded as she stopped moving the probe and just let it rest on the image, “Would you like to know the sex?”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open in surprise.  
  
  
“You can tell?!” she asked, almost jumping from the table, “Yes!”  
  
  
He eager response came at the same time as Tara’s equally as adamant one.  
  
  
“No.”  
  
  
The two women shared a look for a moment before Willow spoke.  
  
  
“We didn’t talk about it,” she said, clearing her throat before looking back and the doctor and waving a hand in the air, “No, it’s okay, we’ll wait.”  
  
  
“You don’t have to decide now,” the doctor replied, “Of course, there’s no 100% guarantee until it comes out, but I have a confident idea.”  
  
  
Tara saw the disappointment on her wife’s face and bent down so they were face-to-face.  
  
  
“Willow, I want to be surprised, but if you want to find out, I don’t mind.”  
  
  
Willow looked conflicted but her excitement was overshadowing it.  
  
  
“I wanna know,” she said, almost apologetically, “Are you sure you don’t mind?”  
  
  
Tara leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss on her wife’s forehead, then a soft a sweet one on her lips.  
  
  
“I promise I don’t mind,” she said and saw Willow’s worry leave in an instant; they both knew neither would promise anything they didn’t mean. She dropped another quick kiss against the redhead’s nose and stood up again, “I’ll wait outside.”  
  
  
She walked from the room with a final reassuring smile in her wife’s direction as she left through the door and sat in one of the chairs of the waiting room. She nervously bit the side of her thumbnail and on more than one occasion had to stop herself from jumping up and rushing back into the room, the thought that she could know if a son or daughter was coming her way being almost too much temptation to bear.   
  
  
But even though she and Willow hadn’t in fact discussed it, she was sure in her mind. She wanted to be surprised. She genuinely had no issue with Willow knowing and not her, but she wanted to be surprised. Just as she had that resolutely decided, she saw the door open again and Willow appear, grinning from ear-to-ear.  
  
  
She jumped up and walked over to her wife.  
  
  
“That’s a big smile.”  
  
  
“Yep,” Willow nodded, unable to stop grinning but trying to remain stoic, “We’re having a baby, it’s exciting stuff.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded, seeing what Willow was doing, and linked their arms.  
  
  
“Yes it is,” she agreed as she walked them towards the exit of the clinic and out onto the street, “Well we better get you back to work. Did you get some new print-outs of the scan?”  
  
  
“Yes! Willow replied excitedly as they arrived at their car, ruffling through her bag as she slid into the driver’s seat, “Here you go!”  
  
  
She handed the picture over to Tara, who had securely strapped herself into the passenger seat and watched her face flood with emotion.  
  
  
“I could look at this all day.”  
  
  
“You should put it next to your computer at work so you can,” Willow replied with a wide smile, “That’s what I do.”  
  
  
Tara smiled at the picture for another moment before putting it securely in a back pocket of her purse.  
  
“I’ll have to get a frame and put it next to the photo of you and JJ.”  
  
  
“Good idea,” Willow replied keenly, “Hey, get two so we can put one on the mantelpiece.”  
  
  
“Will do,” Tara responded as she dropped her purse to the floor, then leaned across the car and kissed her wife soundly on the lips.  
  
  
Willow moved her hands up to cup the blonde’s cheeks and responded to the kiss until they naturally pulled apart. She felt their breath co-mingle for a moment before popping another quick kiss on her wife’s lips and dropped her hands.  
  
  
“I love you, too.”  
  
  
Tara nuzzled their noses together for a few moments before sitting back in her seat.  
  
  
“Do you want me to call that midwife?”  
  
  
Willow just shook her head.  
  
  
“No, it’s okay, I’ll do it. And I’ll let you know straight away.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara arrived back at her desk with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands and took a long sip as she sat back in her chair.  
  
  
“Your phone buzzed,” Alice commented absently, her focus completely on the screen in front of her as she filled out a report.  
  
  
“Thanks,” Tara murmured and picked up her cell phone lying on her desk.  
  
  
She pressed the little message icon and smiled when a small picture of a grinning Willow came up on top of a list of messages, the most recent one in a rectangular box at the bottom of the screen.  
  
  
 _We’re in! She wants to meet with us next Wed to get to know us! Operation No-Operation is a go! Not that I’d definitely need a C-section if I was in hospital or that I might not still if there’s an emergency. That’s a really crappy Operation name, I’m glad thinking those up isn’t part of my job ‘cause I’d be really bad at... Am I babbling by text? I’m just excited! This is really, really the way I want to do it! I love you! See you at home!_  
  
  
“What did Willow say?”  
  
  
Tara looked up to see Alice grinning at her teasingly.  
  
  
“You only smile like that when Willow’s involved.”  
  
  
Tara tried to hide a blush and ducked her head.  
  
  
“Isn’t that report due by the end of the day?”  
  
  
Alice chuckled and turned back to her computer screen.  
  
  
“Must be dirty if you’re getting snarky.”  
  
  
Tara just rolled her eyes and put her mug down so she could type out a reply.  
  
  
 _V. happy sweetie. Let’s just keep the word ‘operation’ out things completely for luck Love you too!_  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Do you want anything?” Tara asked her wife who was sitting on her lap in the armchair of their living room, “A drink?”  
  
  
Willow thought for a moment.  
  
  
“Do we have any fruit punch?”  
  
  
“I think we do,” Tara replied with a smile, “Ice?”  
  
  
“Please,” Willow nodded and stood to let Tara slip out from under her.  
  
  
“Does anybody else want a drink?”  
  
  
The whole gang had gathered in Willow and Tara’s ahead of a going to a restaurant that evening to celebrate Xander and Anya’s anniversary. They’d met there so they could all park their cars safely and share cabs to the city, and to gather the kids together for the babysitter that had been organised. There was about half an hour by the time everyone arrived before they had to leave, so most had opted to have a pre-dinner drink while they waited.  
  
  
A few people nodded and handed Tara their empty glasses. She balanced them in her arms and started to walk towards the door, but stopped in place when she heard Anya speak.  
  
  
“Hey, Willow, aren’t you almost 18 weeks? Are you going to find out the sex of the baby at your scan?”  
  
  
Willow brought a hand up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear nervously.  
  
  
“Um, I already know actually.”  
  
  
“What?!” Becky squealed, jumping up and down on the spot, “Tell, tell.”  
  
  
“Willow knows,” Tara spoke up, “But I don’t.”  
  
  
Everyone looked at her in confusion and she just gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“I want to be surprised. Willow wanted to know. So she does, I don’t.”  
  
  
Becky was still bouncing on the balls of her feet.  
  
  
“Well just whisper it then!”  
  
  
Willow shook her head quickly.  
  
  
“Uh, I, we haven’t talked about telling anyone...”  
  
  
“It’s okay,” Tara said to her wife with a supportive smiled before fixing the others in the room with a steady gaze, “But only if you all promise to keep it quiet. Seriously quiet. Don’t discuss it if I’m nearby unless you tell me first so I don’t come near you.”  
  
  
“Agreed, agreed, agreed,” Becky gushed, running over to Willow and excitedly kneeling at her feet, “Spill!”  
  
  
“Well I’m with you, Tara,” Alice spoke up as she went to stand near her friend, “We didn’t find out with Ella and it was the best surprise in the world.”  
  
  
“Screw that, I was nervous wreck not knowing,” Jesse scoffed before looking at Willow excitedly, “I wanna know, niece or nephew?”  
  
  
“I’m with the not-knowers,” Xander announced suddenly, standing alongside the two women, to both of their surprises, “You can all sit here and bathe in your lack of willpower.”  
  
  
He put an arm around both Alice and Tara’s shoulders and started walking them from the living room and towards the kitchen, speaking excitedly as he did so.  
  
  
“Hey, we’re like a club. We should get buttons. ‘I do not want to know the sex of the baby’.”  
  
  
Alice’s eyes narrowed as they got into the kitchen before she suddenly turned to Xander, eyeing him suspiciously.  
  
  
“Did you see that on The Gilmore Girls?”  
  
  
Xander looked shamefaced and took both of Alice’s hands, holding them between his own.  
  
  
“Never tell my son.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled from where she was filling the different glasses with wine or beer.  
  
  
“Your secret is safe with us,” Tara assured as she fetched a tray to carry the drinks in on, “I’m surprised you’re on Team Don’t Wanna Know.”  
  
  
Xander sat on one of the stools by the island and rested his chin on his palm.  
  
  
“Anya wanted to know when she was pregnant so she could start buying the right clothes and stuff. I mean, I was ecstatic when I found out it was a boy, but I wonder sometimes what it would have been like to not know until he came out and we saw Mr Winky-Dink between the legs.”  
  
  
Tara looked across at him and scrunched her nose up.  
  
  
“You’re a big old softie, aren’t you?”  
  
  
“No,” Xander scoffed, trying to look nonchalant.  
  
  
Alice folded her arms over her chest.  
  
  
“Did you cry at the end of Marley and Me?”  
  
  
Xander looked visibly choked up as he brought up a hand to his heart.  
  
  
“What kind of stone-hearted person wouldn’t? He was their _best friend_.”  
  
  
Alice swatted his arm with a grin.  
  
  
“Softie.”  
  
  
“Hey, I am a hard-ass FBI agent who takes down criminals on a daily basis,” Xander defended himself, puffing out his chest in bravado before letting it drop with bashful smile, “But I may let out a girlish squeal when I see a pair of booties.”  
  
  
“You’re what they call a Tootsie Pop of a man,” Alice said, putting a hand on Xander’s shoulder, “Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.”  
  
  
Xander seemed to contemplate that for a moment before speaking.  
  
  
“Can I at least be a Super Tootsie Pop?”  
  
  
Alice put her hands flat on Xander’s chest and patted him for a moment.  
  
  
“Sure, your muscles are big enough.”  
  
  
Xander laughed loudly and pumped his chest Tarzan-style before standing and taking the tray of drinks that he saw Tara was about to pick up.  
  
  
“And I will use my manly muscles to carry this into the living room.”  
  
  
The three of them walked back into the living room, which went deathly silent as soon as they appeared in the doorway, but all had matching wide grins and twinkling eyes. Xander put the tray on the coffee table in the middle of the room and sat back on the sofa, indignantly raising his chin and folding his arms across his chest.  
  
  
“Those smiles are just masking your shame over your lack of self-control.”  
  
  
Tara shot a crooked smile in Xander’s direction before picking up the glass of punch on the tray and walking back over to Willow, the two of them retaking the position of the redhead sitting on her lap. Willow took a long sip from her glass and popped a kiss against her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“Are you sure you don’t mind us all knowing?” she asked before shaking her head, “Guess it’s too late now anyway.”  
  
  
Tara kept the redhead’s gaze and looked at her intently.  
  
  
“Are you happy?”  
  
  
Willow didn’t know how to even begin to articulate how happy she was but nodded slowly and assuredly.  
  
  
“Very.”  
  
  
Tara ran a hand down the back of her wife’s hair and smiled.  
  
  
“That’s all that matters to me.”


	44. Chapter 44

  
“I need some serious cuddling.”   
  
  
Tara continued to run a brush through her hair and looked over her shoulder at Willow lying in their bed, her bump pushing the middle of the blanket upwards, and frowned.  
  
  
“What’s wrong?   
  
  
“Nothing,” Willow shook her head, “I just always need serious cuddling.”  
  
  
“Oh, okay,” Tara replied, running the brush through her hair one last time before leaving it on the nightstand and walking over to the bed, pulling the blanket up and slipping underneath, throwing her arm over Willow’s waist, “How’s this?”  
  
  
“This is very satisfactory,” Willow responded as her hand stroked down her wife’s arm “But I wouldn’t mind being spooned either.”  
  
  
Tara shifted onto her side and smiled at Willow who beamed and proceeded to start to turn on her side as well before stopping as Tara suddenly grabbed her shoulder.  
  
  
“Wait, I haven’t sung to the baby all week. Do you mind?”  
  
  
Willow promptly lay down on her back, threw the blankets off to the side and raised the too-small tank top that didn’t quite cover her stomach anyway, under her breasts so her belly was on display.  
  
  
“Never.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and shuffled down in the bed, putting one palm flat on her wife’s stomach and folding her other arm under her head to rest on. She hummed no particular tune as she decided what song to sing before deciding on Elton John’s [Blessed](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CCsODb6D0g) and changed the tune to that. She hummed for another few moments to get the melody right in her head before finally singing.  
  
  
 _Hey you,  
You're a child in my head,  
You haven't walked yet,  
Your first words have yet to be said,  
But I swear you'll be blessed_  
  
  
She hummed again, disrupted slightly as she peppered kisses against Willow’s stomach, but still flowing nicely as she started to sing again.  
  
  
 _I know you're still just a dream,  
Your eyes might be green_  
  
  
She glanced up and gave Willow a loving smile at that before focusing back on the bump.  
  
  
 _Or the bluest that I've ever seen,  
Anyway, you'll be blessed_  
  
  
She was about to start humming again but stopped abruptly when she felt something move against her hand. Her head shot up to her wife.  
  
  
“Willow, was that...?”  
  
  
“I, I don’t know,” Willow replied, equally in shock of what she thought she felt, “Sing something else, sing something else!”  
  
  
Tara scrambled over her words for a few moments as she tried to think of a song, any song, to sing, before finally bursting out, mid-song with a verse from [You’ll Be In My Heart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIVaUcE4kAM) from Tarzan, having watched it that evening with JJ, the lyrics falling out her mouth in a rushed manner, but still melodic.  
  
  
 _For one so small,  
You seem so strong,  
My arms will hold you,  
Keep you safe and warm,  
This bond between us,  
Can't be broken,  
I will be here… _   
  
  
As soon as she closed her mouth, she felt the sensation again, this time twice in a row, urging her to continue, so she did, even as the words began to string together almost nonsensically.   
  
  
_You'll be in my heart,  
Yes, you'll be in my heart,  
From this day on,  
Now and forever more,  
You'll be in my heart,  
No matter what they say,  
You'll be here,  
In my heart always,  
Always_  
  
  
“Those are definitely kicks,” Willow exclaimed excitedly as Tara hummed to her belly, then had to quickly shut her mouth as she almost referred to the baby by its gender, “The baby’s kicking!”  
  
  
“Hi baby. Hi baby,” Tara gushed as she pressed her ear against Willow’s stomach as well as her hand, “You won’t hear me say this ever again, but keep kicking your Momma.”  
  
  
Willow let out a warm, joy-filled laugh as another thump hit the side of her stomach and felt Tara kiss the point of impact before moving up and kissing her, a hand still caressing the bump. They kissed deeply for minutes; the seconds lost to sensation and emotion before they eventually pulled apart. Their lips didn’t stay separated long as Tara left a series of second-long kisses against her wife’s lips, mixed in with several repetitions of ‘I love you’.  
  
  
Tara eventually was just resting her lips against Willow’s, letting them exchange energy and warmth and love until she felt and heard the redhead murmur against them.  
  
  
“Likes your singing.”  
  
  
Tara pulled her head back an inch to look at her wife properly and gave a soft smile.  
  
  
“Or was telling me to shut up.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head defiantly.  
  
  
“No way. You can’t be a Rosenberg-Maclay and not love to hear your sing. It’s a rule. It’s on our family crest.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes crinkled in confusion.  
  
  
“We have a family crest?”  
  
  
Willow shrugged.  
  
  
“I’m sure I could make one on Photoshop.”  
  
  
Tara laughed loudly and instinctively squeezed Willow’s stomach, feeling another kick against her as she did so.  
  
  
“That’s amazing,” she said in wonder before a wave of sadness graced her features, “I wish we could’ve felt it with JJ.”  
  
  
Willow’s brow creased and she reached up to stroke her wife’s cheek.  
  
  
“Tara...”  
  
  
Tara quickly held up a hand in front of her and shook it back and forth.  
  
  
“It’s not...I’m not saying it makes him any less...”  
  
  
She trailed off with a sigh as she tried to think of how to express what she was trying to say.  
  
  
“It’s just so incredible feeling the baby grow like this,” she eventually settled on before closing her eyes and smiling as a realisation occurred to her, “But it’s just as amazing watching our son grow into who he is.”  
  
  
“He wouldn’t be who he is if he came to us another way,” Willow replied, smiling softly, “And I wouldn’t want him any other way.”  
  
  
“Me either,” Tara responded with a confident smile before holding her arms out, “You wanted to be spooned, m’lady?”  
  
  
“Yes, please,” Willow replied eagerly, turning on her side and reaching out to flick the switch on the lamp off, plunging the room into darkness as she felt Tara curl into her back and tangle their legs together, “Love you, missus.”  
  
  
“Love you, too,” Tara whispered, dropping a kiss onto Willow’s neck as she secured the blanket back around them, then moved her hand back to her wife’s stomach, “Love you, baby.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“I like this place,” Willow whispered to Tara, sitting in the seat next to her, “It’s very...calm.”  
  
  
Tara looked around the waiting room of the midwife’s office and had to nod in agreement; the walls were painted in a soft pastel blue and the furniture was all oak. There was a water feature behind the reception desk, slowly trickling water down different varieties of rocks, supplying an accompanying harmony to the CD of relaxation music that was softly playing from the speakers that were on a ledge either corner of the room.  
  
  
“That’s good,” Tara whispered back, “We want calm.”  
  
  
Willow nodded and relaxed back in her seat.  
  
  
“Calm is good.”  
  
  
They were the only people in the small waiting room apart from the mid-twenties, blonde, pleasant and smiley receptionist behind a semi-circular desk that hit the wall either end, right beside a large wooden door that had the midwife’s name and credentials engraved on it.  
  
  
There was an assortment of different pregnancy and birth magazines spread across a table in front of them, one of which Tara had in her hands and was flicking through, but Willow was too focused on the tranquil serenity of the room to even bother to try and read.  
  
  
She hadn’t even met the midwife yet, but she knew that this was the right thing to be doing for their baby’s birth. She reached for Tara’s hand after a little while; liking the added peacefulness it brought her and felt warmed by the smile she got as she did so.  
  
  
She absently watched Tara turn the pages of the magazine and smiled at the different images of babies that stood out to her until the voice of the receptionist got their attention.  
  
  
“You can go in now.”  
  
  
Willow felt Tara squeeze her hand as she put the magazine back on the table and stood them both up. They walked hand-in-hand to the door and Tara knocked on it before turning the knob and going in. A tall, slim, middle-aged woman with kind eyes and cleansed skin was already on her feet as they walked inside and closed the door. She approached them with a friendly smile and a hand in offering.  
  
  
“Beth Bennett. Nice to meet you.”  
  
  
“Tara Rosenberg-Maclay,” Tara replied, shaking the woman’s hand and internally warming to her when it was shook firmly.  
  
  
“I’m Willow,” Willow spoke next as she took shook the midwife’s hand, “We spoke on the phone.”  
  
  
“Of course,” the midwife replied, gesturing towards the seats in front of her desk, “Please sit down.”  
  
  
All three women moved to sit and Willow looked around the room. The colour and furniture theme extended to through the office, and she could hear the same music playing from a speaker somewhere above them. There was an examination table in the corner, but it blended in with the rest of the furniture and the walls were lined with shelves of books, all obstetrics and pregnancy related as far as Willow could tell.   
  
  
The wall behind the midwife’s desk had numerous framed degrees on display and just to the side of that was a large poster board filled with cut-out photos of newborns.  
  
  
“Are those babies you’ve helped deliver?” Willow asked as she felt her heart melt looking at all the tiny faces.  
  
  
The midwife followed Willow’s eyeline and smiled softly at her collage.  
  
  
“Yes, I like to remember all the joy I got to be a part of. Only with the parent’s permission of course.”  
  
  
Willow and Tara exchanged a mutual look that said ‘I like her’ and smiled at each other before looking back at the midwife as she drew her attention away from the display of photos and back to them.  
  
  
“So why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourselves and your pregnancy. Your doctor forwarded me all your relevant files so don’t worry about forgetting to tell me something, I have everything on hand. I’m more interested in how you’re finding things.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied, looking to Willow for a moment before continuing, “Well, we met in college; we’ve been together for 11 years and married for 6. We moved to Buffalo right after we got married from Boston and have a 5 year old son. And I’m a social worker and Willow works in the FBI.”  
  
  
Beth looked to Willow at that.  
  
  
“Are you in a high-risk position?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head assuredly.  
  
  
“No, I’m behind a desk all day.”  
  
  
“High-stress?” the midwife asked.  
  
  
Willow shook her head again.  
  
  
“I did my job for fun before I ever did it for work. And my bosses are two of my best friends; they’re our son’s uncles. So, no, very little stress.”  
  
  
“Well that’s good,” Beth responded with a smile, “Though sitting behind a desk all day can increase any back pain you might be having though. If you can, bring a small box of some kind in that you can keep your feet elevated on, and try to get up once an hour, even if it’s just for a quick stretch. I’ve had some women who found it extremely helpful to have a small cushion to sit on too.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied genuinely, “Those are good ideas. I’ll make sure to start doing them.”   
  
  
“No problem,” the midwife responded as she clasped her hands in front of her, “So a 5 year old you said? A boy?”  
  
  
Willow and Tara both smiled at the mention of their son and Willow nodded.  
  
  
“JJ. Jacob James.”  
  
  
“And he’s adopted?” Beth continued, before adding quickly, “I only ask to know whether this was your first pregnancy or not.”  
  
  
“He’s adopted,” Tara confirmed, “But we’ve had him since he was a day old. He wasn’t a...run of the mill adoption.”  
  
  
The midwife raised her eyebrow in question and Willow began to explain.  
  
  
“He was abandoned at the hospital. Tara was called in as his social worker, but she had to bring him home when there were no other placements for him and, well, we just knew we were meant to keep him.”  
  
  
“Well that’s certainly quite a story. He’s very lucky to have such dedicated parents,” Beth responded, an impressed look on her face, “So tell me about your pregnancy. I read in your file that you used Tara’s eggs for the implantation, but not for any fertility reasons?”  
  
  
Willow took Tara’s hand between them and smiled.  
  
  
“I wanted to carry her baby.”  
  
  
The midwife leant forward in her seat, an intrigued look on her face.  
  
  
“I’ve had many women who’ve undergone IVF, and many who’ve used donor eggs, and I’ve dealt with clients in a surrogacy arrangement, but never quite this scenario. I must say I find it quite...touching. I hope that doesn’t sound condescending.”  
  
  
“Not at all,” Tara reassured, before looking to Willow, “Well not for me anyway.”  
  
  
“Oh no, me either,” Willow nodded, “The whole thing has been a very...moving experience. You know, if you take away the needles.”  
  
  
The midwife nodded understandably.  
  
  
“Invasive procedures for you both. But you got pregnant on your first try. Very lucky.”  
  
  
“Unbelievably so,” Tara responded, “I didn’t think it would happen until at least the second or third attempt. But Willow knew. She knew from the start.”  
  
  
The midwife nodded along and looked to Willow to continue.  
  
  
“I’m not religious, but I believe in souls and soulmates,” Willow added on, smiling over at Tara adoringly, “How could I not?”  
  
  
Tara’s cheeks flushed lightly and Willow squeezed her hand before looking back to the midwife.  
  
  
“But I felt this little baby’s soul in me before the eggs were even put in.”  
  
  
The midwife silently smiled for a moment before speaking.  
  
  
“That’s a lovely philosophy. And you’re a very lovely couple. I’m happy to be working with you,” she replied warmly, “So how has your pregnancy been so far? I know you’ve had no medical complications, but for yourselves, your family?”  
  
  
Tara motioned for Willow to answer and the redhead nodded before eventually responding.  
  
  
“Well the morning sickness sucked, but that left when I entered my second trimester. I was lucky; I didn’t really get any other major symptoms, apart from some wacky hormones and sore boobs lately. Me and Tara...” she trailed off and couldn’t help another loving look in her wife’s direction, “I don’t think we’ve ever been more in love.”  
  
  
Tara gave the redhead a crooked smile and returned the look. Willow had to force herself not to get lost in Tara’s eyes, knowing it wasn’t the appropriate setting for an all-out googly-eyes session. She looked back to the midwife and continued to answer the question.  
  
  
“And JJ, well, he’s excited about being a big brother. He’s starting to understand more now he can see the bump growing. I guess we won’t know how he’ll react until the baby actually gets here, but we talk to him about the changes that are going to happen and stuff. And it all kind of brought up questions about his adoption.”  
  
  
The midwife nodded understandingly.  
  
  
“How’s he dealing with that?”  
  
  
“Really well, actually,” Tara replied with a soft smile, “He’s so young still, he only understands it on a basic level and we know there’ll be a lot more questions as he grows up, but for now, he seems very happy about it all.”  
  
  
“Well that’s good. I think it’s very important to keep other children involved with the pregnancy as well to help ease the transition. Showing them illustrations of how big the baby is in books and how it’s growing really helps them understand that a real life human being is coming into their family,” Beth replied knowledgably before questioning again, “And extended family?”  
  
  
Willow nodded enthusiastically.  
  
  
“Well, we have a lot of those. Our friends are all super close, and my dad and Tara’s aunt are JJ’s grandparents. We only told them about a month ago when I passed 3 months, but they couldn’t be happier. Two of our friends have a little boy 6 months younger than JJ, they’re best friends, and two more have a 14 month old daughter, so JJ’s had at least a little experience with babies.”  
  
  
“A good support system is never a bad thing,” Beth responded kindly, “Well I know you’re attending me in conjunction with your OB/GYN, so your appointments with me will be focused more on preparing you for birth and what I can do to help with your pregnancy between now and then.”  
  
  
“That sounds great,” Willow replied with a wide smile, “Exactly what we were looking for.”  
  
  
Beth pulled a sheet from a stack of papers on the side of her desk then, a few hand written notes scrawled across it.  
  
  
“And do you know the sex of the baby? I saw your doctor had confirmed on the sonogram.”  
  
  
“I know,” Willow replied before pointing her thumb at her wife, “Tara doesn’t.”  
  
  
The midwife smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“We’ll keep to the gender neutral pronouns then. Willow, you’re 4 months along, is that right?”  
  
  
Willow nodded.  
  
  
“18 weeks today.”  
  
  
The midwife crossed out something on the sheet and scribbled something else next to it.  
  
  
“And have you felt any movements yet?”  
  
  
“Just since last night,” Willow replied with a beaming smile and a hand on her stomach, “The baby started kicking when Tara was singing. We both felt the first one.”  
  
  
“That’s wonderful,” the midwife responded with a warm smile, before looking down at the sheet in front of her, “I see your due date is August 3rd. That’s really the main reason you’re seeing me, you want a home birth.”  
  
  
Willow nodded keenly again.  
  
  
“Yes, yes, I definitely want to give birth at home. I only want to go to the hospital if there’s an emergency.”  
  
  
“I understand, that’s why I’m here. I’ve worked in hospitals, clinics and privately and I would never insist a client go to the hospital against their wishes unless it was entirely necessary,” Beth reassured, “Have you thought about the specifics of when you give birth, are you considering a water birth?”  
  
  
Willow blinked a few times as that idea planted in her mind and wondered why she hadn’t thought about it before.  
  
  
“Um, I hadn’t thought about that,” she said, looking to Tara who just looked back to say she was fine with whatever she wanted, “I, I don’t know how I feel about the baby being born into like...a pool. And it would be filled with all kinds of...bacteria from me and...I don’t even like baths, unless they’re with Tara.”  
  
  
Both Willow and Tara blushed at that but the midwife kindly ignored the last part and focused on Willow’s concern.  
  
  
“Well it mimics the environment the baby’s in in-utero, so it’s perfectly safe, I can assure you. But many women don’t like the idea and that’s fine too.”  
  
  
Willow nodded, then quickly shook her head.  
  
  
“Well, um, I’ll think more about it, but let’s operate on the assumption that I’m saying no to that. I’m just...not comfortable. It doesn’t feel right to me.”  
  
  
Tara lifted Willow’s hand up slightly and gave it a squeeze.  
  
  
“Trust your gut, sweetie, it hasn’t been wrong so far.”  
  
  
Willow smiled at her wife and got one in return, before the midwife spoke again.  
  
  
“Have you been, or are your scheduled to attend any birthing classes?”  
  
  
“Uh, no,” Willow replied in alarm, before hissing at Tara, “We should be going to a class!”  
  
  
“They’re not a requirement by any means,” Beth spoke calmly, “But I encourage all my patients to attend one if they can. They’re wonderful for meeting other prospective parents and can offer all kinds of advice and preparation techniques, especially for a home birth where your pain relief options are limited. I support the Lamaze technique the most, I’ve seen the most success with it, but I’m comfortable with any practice you choose. Most of them run for about 6, sometimes 8, weeks and I normally advise clients to start around their fifth or sixth month.”  
  
  
“Right,” Tara replied, offering a comforting glance in her wife’s direction, “So we have a time to find a good class and get registered. It’s all okay.”  
  
  
Beth watched the two women communicate silently for a moment before looking to Tara.  
  
  
“I presume you’ll be Willow’s birthing partner?”  
  
  
“She better be,” Willow spoke up, “I’m a basket case at the best of times without her, there’s no way I could go through labour with no Tara.”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes playfully at Willow and the midwife smiled.  
  
  
“I would recommend trying to find a class that welcomes the partner. Some are for the pregnant woman only, but I think it’s just as important for you to know what happening and to experience that as well.”  
  
  
“I want to be there,” Tara replied with an assured nod, then looked to her wife, “Is that okay?”  
  
  
Willow shot her wife a look that said ‘of course’.  
  
  
“I wouldn’t do it if you weren’t there.”  
  
  
The midwife looked down and pretended to alter her notes, more than used to couples sharing moments in her presence and didn’t look up until she heard Willow clear her throat self-consciously. She dropped her pen and clasped her hands together.  
  
  
“Have you thought about feeding options, whether you want to breastfeed or not?”  
  
  
“Oh yea,” Willow nodded keenly, “Definitely.”  
  
  
“You do?” Tara asked softly.  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow replied to her wife, “Did you think I wouldn’t?”  
  
  
Tara gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“We hadn’t talked about it. I’m very happy that you want to though.”  
  
  
“I can help you with techniques for that leading up to the birth so it’s less stressful when the time comes,” the midwife added before looking to Willow, “I know you’re attending Julia, Dr. Wells, so I can leave the majority of the physical examinations you need in her hands to report to me, but would you mind if I took a look at your stomach? I can get a feel for your uterus and the baby’s growth.”  
  
  
“Sure,” Willow agreed, standing up and gesturing towards the exam table, “Will I...?”  
  
  
“Please,” Beth replied, standing as well and following Willow to the table.  
  
  
Tara watched as Willow lay on the exam table and lifted her shirt, but her view was cut off as the midwife stood in front of and started to feel her stomach. The room was quiet for a minute until Beth spoke again, more to herself, but loud enough for the other two to hear.  
  
  
“Small baby.”  
  
  
“Small?” Tara called across in the room in alarm.  
  
  
The midwife looked over her shoulder to Tara as she continued to palpate around Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“Not dangerously so. Just on the smaller side of healthy. Some babies grow more in the final months, or you might just have a smaller baby. Nothing to worry about.”  
  
  
She looked back to Willow and motioned that she could fix her shirt back again and started to walk back to her desk. Willow followed a moment later and retook her seat, taking Tara’s hands as the midwife wrote some more notes, then looked up to them.  
  
  
“Well this was just our initial appointment to meet and get to know each other, we’ll start to build a birthing plan that you feel comfortable with in our coming meetings. You might want to start thinking about which room in your house you’d like to deliver in and who else you might like there–”  
  
  
“Just Tara,” Willow cut the midwife off, “We’ll make sure someone’s on hand to take JJ whenever my water breaks, because I really don’t think he needs to witness anything like that, but after that, I don’t want to see anyone but you and Tara until the baby’s born.”  
  
  
“It’s good you have a clear idea,” Beth replied as she tapped her pen against the table, “Do you have any questions for me?”  
  
  
Tara answered first.  
  
  
“Dr. Wells told us you only take on a certain number of patients...”  
  
  
Beth nodded in confirmation.  
  
  
“I never take on more than 2 clients due in the same month. Currently, I have no other patients due 3 weeks either side of your due date, and I won’t take any on if they fall in that timeframe, so you can be assured I’ll be available in full to you.”  
  
  
“Well Dr. Wells sent us to you and she’s known us for years and been involved with this baby since the very start, so I have no qualms in trusting you to be our midwife,” Willow replied before looking slightly uncomfortable, “I do have one other question. I, um, hate to even ask because you’ve been so nice and you haven’t shown any reason otherwise, but just to make sure...you don’t have an issue with us...both being women, do you?”  
  
  
Beth shook her head.  
  
  
“I can promise you, that’s not at issue for me in the slightest,” she said resolutely, then turned a frame on her desk towards the couple, showing a blonde woman and a brunette woman standing over a 2 year old, brown haired boy, “In fact, I helped my sister and her wife deliver their beautiful baby boy.”  
  
  
Willow smiled at the picture before looking at the midwife apologetically.  
  
  
“Sorry, it’s just...I wouldn’t want it to come up later that it is an issue and we’d lose our midwife and it would be a whole...thing.”  
  
  
“Not a problem,” Beth replied, holding a hand up in indication that she wasn’t offended, “I’m 100% committed to all of my clients; there isn’t a baby I haven’t seen through to delivery yet.”  
  
  
“Excellent,” Willow responded, suitably assured, “Well then, I think we’d really like you to be our midwife.”  
  
  
“Wonderful,” Beth replied, smiling warmly, “Well I guess your homework is to look into a birthing class. I like to meet with my clients every 3 weeks up until their final month, then every 2. Does that sound okay?”  
  
  
“Very okay,” Willow nodded, “We will definitely have a birthing class booked by our next appointment.”  
  
  
Beth stood and offered her hand across the table.  
  
  
“It was very nice to meet both of you.”  
  
  
“You too,” Willow gushed, shaking the midwife’s hand.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara added as she too shook Beth’s hand, “We’ll make an appointment with your secretary?”  
  
  
The midwife nodded and the three said their goodbyes before leaving the office and making an appointment for three weeks later with the receptionist. Tara slipped the appointment card into her wallet for safe keeping as they made their way back to the car.   
  
  
“Doctor; check, midwife; check, celebratory smooch,” Tara replied once inside the car, leaning over and pressing her lips against her wife’s warmly, “Check.”  
  
  
“She was great, wasn’t she?” Willow replied giddily, “I’m very, very happy.”  
  
  
Tara reached for Willow’s hand.  
  
  
“I’m very, very glad. And I am completely convinced. This is the right way for our baby to be born.”  
  
  
Willow leant across the car to wrap her arms around Tara and gave her a long squeeze before sitting back in her seat with a wide smile.  
  
  
“Now all we have to do is find a birthing class.”


	45. Chapter 45

  
Tara placed the phone back onto the receiver and bounced into the living room. She saw Willow sitting on the sofa, reading from ‘The Birth Book’ which was propped up on her belly, with her bare feet resting leisurely up on the coffee table, wearing grey sweatpants and a t-shirt that didn’t quite cover her swelled stomach.  
  
  
Tara walked over and slipped a knee either side of her wife so she was facing and straddling her. She was about to say something when she noticed the t-shirt Willow was wearing - an oversized black tee with white lettering that spelled out ‘I Love My Girlfriend’; a shirt that had been bought at a pride parade when they were in college and that Tara hadn’t seen in quite a few years.   
  
  
She looked up at her wife with a raised eyebrow.  
  
  
“You better not have a girlfriend, much less one you love.”  
  
  
“It’s the only thing that fits me anymore,” Willow giggled as she closed her book and placed it on the armrest, then entwined both sets of fingers with Tara’s, “Hello.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and opened her mouth to say what she’d come in to say but instead found herself jolting in surprise as Willow used the opportunity to pull her into a kiss and easily slip her tongue into her mouth. Before she even had a chance to register what had happened, her surprise increased as she found herself on her back with Willow alongside her body, half-straddling her.   
  
She squirmed as Willow's hand slipped beneath her shirt and began to caress her stomach.  
  
  
“Oh, hi!” she gasped, panting loudly as a palm ran over her nipple, then shook her head and pushed at her wife’s shoulders, “Willow, JJ!”  
  
  
“Playing with the kids next door,” Willow murmured, her lips attached to the blonde’s neck as she took some generous squeezes of Tara’s breast through her bra, then slid her hand down and popped the button on her pants.  
  
  
Her fingers slipped beneath the fabric and under Tara’s panties, wasting no time in finding the bump in her hot flesh, rubbing over it with a vigorous speed. Tara gasped again but was helpless against Willow’s touch and lolled her head back over the armrest with a long moan.  
  
  
Willow moved her fingers back and forth with an ever-increasing pace until they were slipping off every few seconds from Tara’s slick build-up of arousal. She removed her hand from her wife’s pants and yanked at the side of them, pulling them and Tara’s panties down to her mid-thigh before moving her hand back to where it was before and thrust two fingers deeply inside.  
  
  
Tara dug her teeth into her bottom lip to contain her excitement but throaty sounds still escaped as Willow pumped her fingers in and out fiercely and made a ball of hot tension coil in her abdomen. She tried to buck her hips in time with Willow’s thrusts but found she was restricted from the weight of her wife’s stomach against her so just rotated them around instead.   
  
  
She could feel the tension swelling with each second until she knew there was just no more room for it to expand and it finally broke, spreading throughout her body like wildfire and expressed through a lengthy, guttural moan.  
  
  
As her body calmed, she felt fresh tingles shoot through her as Willow placed a series of small butterfly kisses on her face. After a minute or two of enjoying the sensation she fluttered her eyes open to see Willow’s already staring back at her and promptly found a pair of lips kissing her own.  
  
  
When Willow pulled back, Tara reached a hand up and ran it down her wife’s hair before letting it fall back down beside her.  
  
  
“I, um... I just came to...” she tried to voice her original intention of coming in the room before being side-tracked but still found her breath heaving, “I just came to tell...”  
  
  
Willow grinned and pulled her hand from between Tara’s legs, bringing it up to her mouth and licking her glistening fingers.  
  
  
“You just came.”  
  
  
Tara blushed and turned her head to the side.  
  
  
“I came to tell you...” she tried again but lost all coherent thought as looked back and watched Willow sucking her fingers into her mouth, a faux-innocent look on her face, “Something.”   
  
  
Willow very slowly pulled her fingers from her mouth, loving the entranced look on her wife’s face as she did so, then brought her hand down to take a hold of Tara’s wrist, sliding their palms together,  
  
  
“While you’re remembering,” she said in a seductive tone, bringing their conjoined hands up, “Would you like to put this hand to better use?”  
  
  
Tara could only nod and started to move to bring their lips together when they both heard the sound of the front door being opened. With alarm and panic etched on their faces, they scrambled together to pull Tara’s pants and panties back on and get into a less compromising position.  
  
  
Tara had just managed to secure the button closed and Willow had jumped to the opposite side to the sofa and picked up her book, pretending to read as JJ appeared in the room, his hands stuffed into his pockets.  
  
  
“Hi, honey,” Willow said, her voice coming out a few octaves higher than normal, “I thought you were playing next door.”  
  
  
“Their Daddy came to bring them to the ‘quarium,” JJ explained before taking a jump-step towards Willow and looking at her hopefully, “Can we play on my ‘puter?”  
  
  
“Sure,” Willow agreed, nodding shiftily though JJ was too oblivious to notice anything askew, “Go get it and we’ll play.”  
  
  
JJ threw a fist in the air triumphantly and scurried out of the room, his footsteps pounding against the stairs a moment later. Willow and Tara stayed deathly still and silent for several seconds before looking at each other and both burst into laughter.  
  
  
“That was sooo close,” Willow hissed through laughter, bringing the opened book up to cover her face, which just made Tara laugh more.  
  
  
“Thank god it was just him; you’re not even reading the right way around.”  
  
  
Willow pulled the book away and giggled as she saw the words were indeed an upside-down jumble. She put the book back on the armrest, then leaned over and popped a warm kiss against her wife’s lips. When they pulled apart, Tara leaned just a little bit further to whisper in Willow’s ear.  
  
  
“I’ll take care of you later.”  
  
  
“Countin’ on it,” Willow grinned, “So, um...what was it you came to tell me?”  
  
  
Tara blushed and laughed.  
  
  
“I booked the Lamaze class,” she said with a playful role of her eyes that it had taken so long to get out, “We start next week on Thursday evenings. Michelle already said she and Ira would take JJ for the few hours.”  
  
  
“Great,” Willow replied enthusiastically, glad they had finally settled on a particular class after deliberating over a few different ones, “That’s good. Is it bad that I didn’t want to go for the one with the Friday classes ‘cause I didn’t want to have one on my birthday in a few weeks?”  
  
  
“Not at all,” Tara replied reassuringly, “We’re both so tired by Friday night anyway, so we wouldn’t be at our best going in. And this one is in the centre closer to us, so it’s really the best option. If we went to the Friday night ones all across the city, we wouldn’t get home until way after JJ needed to go to bed, it would just be too disruptive. And it would’ve ruined my birthday plans for you.”  
  
  
“I thought we were just having a family dinner,” Willow replied, a hand resting on her stomach, “I’m exhausted every night carrying this one around all day. I know it’s boring but I’d really just like to stay at home.”  
  
  
“I know, and we are,” Tara replied with a nod of her head and a grin, “But I need time to make all your favourite dishes.”  
  
  
“Oh okay,” Willow replied with a pleased smile, “Great. So what do you want to do today?”  
  
  
Tara was silent for a moment as their conversation sparked a thought in her mind before speaking.   
  
  
“Um, I actually need to go out of a bit and pick up a few things. Is that okay, can you stay with JJ?”  
  
  
“Sure,” Willow replied happily, “Hey, bring me back some ice cream. Something with chocolate.”  
  
  
“No problem,” Tara responded and stood up, pressing a passing kiss against Willow’s lips as she did so before gesturing around herself, “I’m just going to go...freshen up.”  
  
  
“Good idea,” Willow grinned as she waggled her eyebrows, then slapped Tara’s butt as the blonde passed her.  
  
  
Tara jumped in place and shot a wry grin in her wife’s direction.  
  
  
“Behave.”  
  
  
“Never,” Willow replied, sticking her tongue out between her teeth and giggling as Tara playfully shook her head before disappearing out of the room.  
  
  
Willow heard two sets of footsteps on the stairs a moment later, then smiled as JJ walked through the doorway, carrying his laptop with both of his hands. He lay on the floor and opened the computer, but looked around as Willow called down to him.  
  
  
“Hey, honey, I can’t lie on the floor, my tummy’s too big.”  
  
  
JJ sighed and picked his laptop up, walking over to the sofa and shimmying into the seat beside Willow. He made no effort to start the laptop up and just stared at Willow’s bump.  
  
  
“When’s the baby coming out?”  
  
  
Willow rested one hand on her belly and used the other to stroke JJ’s hair.  
  
  
“Still a little while. Four months.”  
  
  
“That’s foreverrrrr,” JJ whined dramatically before slapping Willow’s stomach, “There’s no more room!”  
  
  
“Don’t hit me,” Willow said sternly, before explaining, “And my body will make room. I’m going to get a lot bigger. You want a strong brother or sister, don’t you?”  
  
  
“Yeah,” JJ agreed a reluctant tone, then looked curious, “Does the baby eat vegetables?”  
  
  
Willow smiled.  
  
  
“I eat them and the baby gets them from me.”  
  
  
JJ contemplated that for a moment before looking hopeful.  
  
  
“Can you eat my vegetables?”  
  
  
Willow laughed and shook her head.  
  
  
“Nice try, buddy.”  
  
  
JJ sulked for a moment but quickly got over it as he switched his laptop on and watched the start-up animations. Tara’s head popped through the door just a few seconds later.  
  
  
“Be back in a bit.”  
  
  
“Bye, beautiful,” Willow smiled over and JJ gave a distracted wave until he heard the door slam and looked to his mother.   
  
  
“Where’s Mommy going?”  
  
  
“Shopping,” Willow replied before leaning over conspiringly, “She’s bringing us back ice-cream!”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes lit up and he kicked the sofa beneath his feet excitedly before tapping the buttons when the screen finally loaded.  
  
  
“Wanna play the Tigger game? You gotta bounce around and help find pots of honey for Pooh!”  
  
  
“You bet!” Willow replied enthusiastically, “But remember, when you’re bouncing, what does Tigger always say?”  
  
  
“Look before you leap!” JJ responded wholeheartedly with a toothy grin.  
  
  
Willow clapped her hands before wrapping her arm around her son’s waist, pulling him into her side. They played the adventure came; JJ controlling the actions of the on-screen Tigger while Willow offered encouragement and helped him find the hidden honey pots.  
  
  
After progressing through several levels and acquiring piglet as an accomplice, Willow noticed JJ repeatedly rubbing his eyes and pushed the lid of the laptop down slightly.  
  
  
“Is the screen hurting your eyes, honey?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and continued to rub his eyes, so Willow closed the laptop completely and reached forwards to place it on the coffee table, then wrapped her arms around her son.  
  
  
“Do you want a nap?”  
  
  
JJ silently shook his head and cuddled into Willow’s side for a few quiet minutes before sitting back up.  
  
  
“Can I go play with my cars in my room?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Willow replied, dropping a kiss on top of his head, “Have fun.”  
  
  
JJ slid off the sofa and strolled from the room. Willow moved her feet back to the coffee table and picked her book up again to read. She had gotten through the chapter on natural pain relief and was just starting the one on breathing technique when a loud knocking on the front door caused her to put it down.  
  
  
She pushed herself up and walked out of the room and to the front door, opening it to reveal Anya and Alice standing there.  
  
  
“Uh, hi guys,” she said in surprise, then rolled her eyes as Anya pushed her way through the door, “Please, come in why don’t you.”  
  
  
Alice offered a small wave as she too stepped over the threshold and followed Anya who had headed towards the living room. Willow closed the door and joined the other two, clasping her hands together in front of her.  
  
  
“Can I get your guys anything? Coffee or something?”  
  
  
“No, thank you, we just wanted to–” Alice started to say, but was abruptly stopped as Anya stepped forward.  
  
  
“Willow, this is an intervention.”  
  
  
“This isn’t–” Alice tried to speak again but was once again cut off as Willow spoke louder.  
  
  
“An...an intervention? An intervention for what?”  
  
  
Before Alice could interject and alleviate the situation, Anya had plucked a folded up piece of paper from her pocket and began to read from it.  
  
  
“Willow. We are your friends and we can’t let this go on any longer. The time has come that I have to tell you that your pregnancy has affected me very negatively. Your over-reliance on clothing that don’t fit correctly has gone on too long. Last week, when we were all having a picnic in the park and those hot guys playing football passed us, they didn’t even look at my legs that I spent an hour in the tanning salon getting just the right brown or how perfectly my make-up had been applied, because they were too focused on looking at your belly hanging out of your shirt, uncomfortably so, might I add. This hurt me, Willow–”  
  
  
Anya was cut off as Alice grabbed the sheet from her hand and glared at her, shaking her head repeatedly. Anya tried to grab her letter back to finish but Alice just scrunched it up into a ball and held it hostage before turning to Willow to apologise and explain, but didn’t get a chance.  
  
  
“You guys are having an ‘intervention’ to tell me I’m too fat?” Willow asked in disbelief, “Anya I expect this from, but really, Alice? Really?”  
  
  
“No,” Alice said resolutely, holding up a single hand defensively, “What we came today to say was, we think, being previously pregnant women, that...We came to offer...”  
  
  
“Maternity clothes!” Anya announced, clapping her hands together and offering a winning smile, “And that’s why we are here. We are bringing you shopping.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Willow replied, self-consciously pulling at the end of her shirt, “I was just saying to Tara that none of my clothes fit me anymore.”  
  
  
“I’ll say,” Anya replied before brightening again, “But you are very lucky that you have us! Together, we know every elasticised waistband and vertical stripe trick in the book.”  
  
  
Willow kept one hand pulling her t-shirt down and tucked a piece of her own hair behind her ear with the other.  
  
  
“It’s... nice of you guys to offer to take me shopping, but I’ve got JJ, Tara’s out doing stuff. He wouldn’t appreciate being dragged around a department store.”  
  
  
“Xander is in the park playing catch with Alex,” Anya offered as a solution, “We can drop him off on the way.”  
  
  
“He’d like that,” Willow replied with a small smile, “He loves playing with that old mitt my dad gave him. They wouldn’t mind? They’re not having some special father-son time?”  
  
  
Anya shook her head.  
  
  
“They’d gathered a small group of children when I was leaving. I think he was setting up a baseball game.”  
  
  
“You in?” Alice asked hopefully, “We’ll treat you to some cake afterwards. To show we definitely don’t think you’re too fat.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small smile and nodded.  
  
  
“Yeah I’m in. Let me just go get changed.”  
  
  
“Good idea,” Anya replied before screeching as Alice harshly nudged her side, “What?”  
  
  
Willow just rolled her eyes and left the room, going upstairs and standing in the doorway of her son’s room.  
  
  
“Hey little man. How would you like to go play some baseball with Alex and Uncle Xander?”  
  
  
JJ jumped up from the floor and nodded eagerly.  
  
  
“Yeah!”  
  
  
“Okay, get your mitt and go downstairs,” Willow responded with a smile, “Aunt Alice and Aunty Anya are down there. I’ll be down in a minute and then we can go.”  
  
  
She left JJ bouncing around his room looking for his baseball mitt and went to her own, finding a pair of Tara’s jeans that fit her a little better than any of her own and pulled a large sweatshirt over her head. She checked herself out in the mirror and pulled the sweatshirt down some more before giving herself a resolute look.  
  
  
“Screw them for making me feel self-conscious,” she muttered to herself, before sighing, “But I do need new clothes.”  
  
  
With one final look, she turned on her heels and walked back downstairs. The front door was open and Willow could see Anya and Alice walking towards a silver BMW, Anya’s car, ahead, while Alice was standing in the doorway and started speak in a rush as soon as she saw the redhead.  
  
  
“Willow, she got the intervention idea in her head, I tried to talk her out of it, I swear. I just came along because I remember shopping for maternity clothes and thought a helping hand might be...useful.”  
  
  
Willow reached the end of the stairs and offered a small smile to let her know it was okay.  
  
  
“I appreciate it. Hey, at least I know Anya cares enough to be part of an intervention for me.”  
  
  
Alice gave a small laugh and looked relieved that she hadn’t upset her friend as Willow grabbed her purse and keys and they started to follow Anya and JJ to the car.  
  
  
“I hope shopping for clothes with her isn’t anything like shopping for toys.”  
  
  
Willow chuckled as she pulled the door closed behind them.  
  
  
“Well I don’t see any whistles, that’s a good sign.”  
  
  
Alice looked away and visibly shuddered at the memory of Christmas shopping as they reached Anya’s car. Willow got into the backseat beside JJ as Alice got in the passenger side in the front.   
  
  
Willow gently threw the baseball her son had back and forth for him until they arrived at the park, where Xander and Alex were waiting at the entrance. Anya opened the child-locked door for JJ to run over to them and Willow waved them off through the window.   
  
  
She absently listened as Anya started to rant about an anti-capitalism presenter on the radio she had just shut off, but was mostly just daydreaming until they finally parked in the large parking lot of the mall.  
  
  
The three women walked into the mall and to a large department store, Anya leading the way to the upper level of maternity clothes.  
  
  
“Okay, we need layers and we need colours. But not the horrible clashing ones you normally wear...”  
  
  
Willow turned the offended section of her brain off, knowing it wouldn’t be good for anyone, including the baby, if she let every little thing Anya said get to her and focused on the well-meaning part of the whole excursion. She tried to listen to the tips Anya was spouting from her mouth before a familiar face caught her eye and a huge grin broke out on her face.   
  
  
“Hey, I’ll just be one sec, okay?” she called to the other two.  
  
  
“Don’t be long; we have a lot of clothing to look through!” Alice replied with what could have been real or mock-enthusiasm; Willow wasn’t paying enough attention to decipher.  
  
  
“Although not all of it, I refuse to let you buy anything with a floral print,” Anya added, “Even if you don’t like to apply that rule to yourself sometimes.”  
  
  
Willow bit her tongue and forced a smile.  
  
  
“Meet you upstairs, okay?”  
  
  
Alice nodded in acknowledgement before she and Anya headed towards the escalator and Willow turned around and walked back a few aisles.  
  
  
“Hey gorgeous, come here often?”  
  
  
Tara snapped her head up at the sound of her wife’s voice and quickly shoved her arms, and the items in them, behind her back.  
  
  
“Willow! What are you doing here?”  
  
  
“Trying my luck with a sexy broad in a department store,” Willow giggled, not noticing Tara’s quick movement and gave a small smile, “Anya and Alice decided it was time to take me maternity shopping.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Tara replied in a neutral tone, “That was nice of them.”  
  
  
“Yeah...” Willow replied cagily, before waving a hand dismissively, “I’ll tell you the whole story later.”   
  
  
Tara nodded in agreement and wondered how she could get Willow to another part of the store so the redhead wouldn’t realise what section they were in and ruin what was supposed to be a surprise.   
  
  
Unfortunately, at that particular moment anyway, she had married a woman with keen observational skills and an ever-present curiosity.  
  
  
“So whatcha doing?” Willow asked, looking around the rails surrounding them and noticing they were filled with different kinds of underwear, “Buying some sexy lingerie to wear for me?”  
  
  
Tara pursed her lips together to try not to give anything away, but it just had the opposite effect as her silence answered the question anyway.  
  
  
“ _Are_ you buying some sexy lingerie for me?” Willow asked excitedly, then jumped in place as her eyes widened in realisation, “Are you buying for my birthday?”  
  
  
Tara kept her lips pursed for a moment before sighing in defeat.  
  
  
“Yes. Now scoot so I can keep shopping.”  
  
  
“Show me what ya got,” Willow replied, trying to look around Tara to what was hidden behind her back only for the blonde to turn her back into the rails, “Show me. Show me, show me, show me!”  
  
  
“No, Willow,” Tara responded insistently, “If you see it now it won’t be a surprise on your birthday.”  
  
  
“Who wants to be surprised?” Willow asked over-enthusiastically, before giving a definite nod, “You know, I would say it’s even a bad idea for me to be surprised. The baby feels what I feel. We don’t want to startle the baby.”  
  
  
“It’s not going to work Willow, I’m not–” Tara started to speak but was cut off as Willow suddenly made a grab behind her back while her guard was down and snatched the article she had been trying to hide, “Willow!”  
  
  
Willow was too busy gaping at the garment, or rather garments, she was holding by the hanger; matching black bra and panties, with fishnet stockings hanging a garter belt attached beneath them.  
  
  
“Holy...Oh my god this would look...insanely incredible on you.”  
  
  
“It doesn’t matter,” Tara replied, setting her jaw, “I’m not getting it.”  
  
  
“Do you need money?” Willow asked, scrambling to get purse down her arms, “I have money.”  
  
  
“I just went to the ATM,” Tara responded, indignantly crossing her arms over her chest, “I’m still not getting it.”  
  
  
“Whyyyy?” Willow whined, jutting her lower lip out.  
  
  
“Because you’ve seen it,” Tara replied pointedly, taking the hanger back and slipping it back over the rail.  
  
  
“I’ll forget!” Willow responded, clapping her hands together, “Baby brain! I have total baby brain! I, I can’t even remember why I’m in this store!”  
  
  
Tara dropped her arms and shook her head.  
  
  
“That’s twice you’ve tried to use our unborn child to see me in something skimpy.”  
  
  
Willow turned her clasped hands into a begging pose.  
  
  
“Please, Tara, please,” she pleaded, not caring what she looked like to any other of the store patrons, then lowering her voice so only Tara would be able to hear, “You’ve never worn a garter belt before, not even at our wedding. Please.”  
  
  
“I’m not buying that. You’ve seen it. And I’m not going to ruin an eleven year tradition we’ve had of surprising each other,” Tara replied before a small smirk played on her lips, “But if you go do your shopping with the girls right now and _promise_ not to try and look at what I’m buying...I _will_ get something a with garter belt.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes widened and lit up and she nodded so quickly Tara thought she could give herself whiplash.  
  
  
“Deal! Deal, deal, deal, deal, deal!” Willow replied, throwing her arms around the blonde, “Thank you, thank you!”  
  
  
Tara embraced her wife for a moment before pulling away and spinning the redhead in place, pointing ahead of her.  
  
  
“Go!”  
  
  
Willow scurried off, almost looking back once before remembering the agreement and keeping her gaze forward as she stepped on the escalator to join the other two in the maternity section.  
  
  
It didn’t matter what Anya said to her that afternoon, nothing was going to take the smile from her face.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“Willow Danielle Rosenberg-Maclay!”  
  
  
Willow jumped back in fright and had a deer-caught-in-headlights look on her face for a moment before quickly looking defensive and crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
  
“Don’t you middle name me, Tara Marie!”  
  
  
Tara motioned over her shoulder with her thumb.  
  
  
“Out.”  
  
  
Willow stood firm on the spot.  
  
  
“I can’t look in my own closet?”  
  
  
Tara eyed her wife and shook her head.  
  
  
“Not when you’re looking for what I know you’re looking for.”  
  
  
Willow’s defensive look momentarily turned to guilt before changing again in an instant to nonchalance.  
  
  
“I was just putting my new clothes away.”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara replied unconvinced, looking over at the various sized bags of clothes Willow had brought home, untouched on their bed, “Have you developed telekinetic abilities?”  
  
  
“If I did, your shirt would be off,” Willow replied sarcastically, then averting her gaze as she knew she’d been caught.  
  
  
Tara walked over to where Willow was standing and pressed a single hand against the closet door, shutting it and shaking her head.  
  
  
“Do you really think I even hid it in there? The first place you’d look?”  
  
  
Willow dropped her arms and grabbed Tara’s hands hopefully.  
  
  
“At least tell me the colour.”  
  
  
“No,” Tara replied adamantly, “Bring it up again and I won’t wear it at all.”  
  
  
Willow’s pout deepened and she walked over to the bed, sinking onto the edge of the mattress.  
  
  
“Meanie.”  
  
  
Tara walked over and sat beside Willow, taking her hand and resting her chin on her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
“You’ll like it.”  
  
  
Willow turned Tara’s hand over in hers and drew circles on her palm for a moment before offering her a small smile.  
  
  
“You could wear granny panties and a coconut bra and I’d like it.”  
  
  
Tara pressed her lips against Willow’s cheek and lingered for a few moments before pulling away and looking over to the bags in the middle of the bed.  
  
  
“Come on, show me what you bought.”  
  
  
Willow saw an opportunity and took it, moving her hand to Tara’s thigh and squeezing it.  
  
  
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” she said with a seductive puff only to throw her hands up in frustration when she just got a warning look in response, “Fine. I give up. I’ll be surprised.”  
  
  
Tara gave a pleased, victorious smile and gestured to the bags.  
  
  
“Give me a fashion show.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow responded after a moment, jumping up and gathering her items, “The girls actually really knew their stuff. I would’ve breezed past a lot of things that I ended up buying.”  
  
  
“Well they’ve had the experience,” Tara replied as Willow removed her sweater and pants, “Are those my jeans?”  
  
  
Willow picked up the fallen jeans and hung them on the back of the chair at the vanity table.  
  
  
“Yeah, sorry. Anya wouldn’t be seen in public with me in sweats. I didn’t stretch them, I promise, I wore them under my bump.”  
  
  
“I don’t mind you wearing my clothes, you know that,” Tara replied with a smile, “Just curious.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and nodded as she rooted through one of the bags and retrieved something, pulling the royal blue dress over her body and fixing it properly on herself.   
  
  
The dress fell to her knees and the sleeves stretched to her elbows, while a modest v-neck covered her chest and a front tie fell over her stomach.  
  
  
Willow pulled at the neckline until she was satisfied with its placement and turned in place.  
  
  
“Whaddya think?”  
  
  
“That is beautiful,” Tara replied in a tone Willow could only describe as ‘swooning’, “You are beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and gave a bashful smile.  
  
  
“It’s really comfortable.”  
  
  
“Well it looks phenomenal,” Tara replied, slowly letting her eyes run from Willow’s face, to her feet and back again, “Very good buy.”  
  
  
Willow beamed and did another twirl.   
  
  
She tried on things from the rest of the bags, one other dress and a collection of tops until she was just standing in her bra and panties, rooting through them.  
  
  
“The rest are just pants and stuff,” she said before pulling out a pair of jeans, “Oh but hey, check out these jeans.”  
  
  
She dragged them up her legs and pulled the elasticised waistband snugly around her bump, then turned so her back was to her wife. Tara whistled approvingly.  
  
  
“I am very jealous of how tight they are hugging your butt.”  
  
  
“I know!” Willow replied giddily, looking back at her behind with a grin, “And it’s all stretchy in the front so they’ll grow with me.”  
  
  
“If I don’t rip them off you every time you put them on,” Tara responded with a sly wink before standing and walking to the corner of the room where a small plastic bag that Willow hadn’t noticed before was lying on the floor, “I actually got you something today too before I knew you were going shopping.”  
  
  
“You did?” Willow asked in curiosity, stepping forward as Tara walked back to her.  
  
  
“I did,” Tara confirmed, taking what was revealed to be a plain black t-shirt from the bag, unfolding it out to reveal the words ‘I Love My Wife’ in white lettering, “I thought you needed an update from the ‘girlfriend’ one. Kinda pointless now, you don’t need the oversized t-shirts anymore.”  
  
  
Willow covered her mouth with her hands in awe at the gift before dropping them to take it and pulled it over her head.  
  
  
“No, I love it. I _love_ it,” she replied emphatically, before suddenly gesturing wildly around her, “Wait, wait!”  
  
  
She bounced over to the dresser and doused the t-shirt with a few squirts of Tara’s perfume before turning back to her wife, bringing the shirt up to her chest to inhale the familiar scent.  
  
  
“Now it’s perfect.”  
  
  
Tara gave a pleased smile that her wife liked her gift so much.  
  
  
“Well I know you don’t like to be factually inaccurate.”  
  
  
Willow moved forwards and wrapped her arms around Tara.  
  
  
“Thank you,” she whispered with a tight squeeze before pulling away and hugging the t-shirt to her chest, “It’s still way comfier than anything I bought today. I’ll wear it all the time. Even if Anya holds another intervention.”   
  
  
Tara placed her hands on Willow’s hips and pulled her forward so their abdomens hit against each other.  
  
  
“I love your little bump. Whatever clothing it happens to be surrounded by.”   
  
  
Willow smiled too.  
  
  
“Will you love it when it’s the size of a watermelon and covered in stretch marks?”  
  
  
Tara nodded resolutely.  
  
  
“Even more.”  
  
  
Willow put her hands on her belly.  
  
  
“I love it too,” she admitted, one side of her lips quirking up before she threw her arms around Tara’s neck and popped a kiss on her lips, “And I really, really, really love you.”


	46. Chapter 46

Tara could feel sweat pouring from Willow’s palm onto hers as they walked down the hallway of the health centre to the room they’d been directed to for the first of their birthing classes.

 

It wasn’t particularly hot outside, or inside the building, but Tara knew her wife’s internal temperature control had been all out whack with the hormones in recent times, so didn’t think it was odd. As they reached the designated room, other couples and some single pregnant women already in attendance and standing around chatting, she dropped her wife’s hand and discreetly wiped it against her pants before offering Willow a smile.

 

“Are you thirsty, sweetie? Do you want some water?”

 

Willow nodded and looked behind herself to the water cooler.

 

“I’ll get it.”

 

“Okay,” Tara agreed, giving Willow’s shoulders a squeeze before gesturing to the corner of the room where rolled up yoga mats were towered on top of each other, the others in the room all holding one already, “I’ll go get us some mats.”

 

Willow nodded in acknowledgement and turned on her heels, going over to the water cooler and plucking a plastic cup from the dispenser on the side. She filled it almost to the top and downed it in one quick gulp before quickly refilling and knocking that back in just seconds. She was in the middle of her third refill when she heard a female voice sidle up to her from the side.

 

“Feeling a bit warm?”

 

She dropped the cup and self-consciously wiped her mouth with her wrist, shooting an embarrassed smile to the woman, who Willow guessed was in her late thirties and had a bump just a little bigger than her own.

 

“Yeah.”

 

The woman waved her hand in front of her.

 

“I had crazy hot flashes during my first pregnancy. Carried around an ice-pack in my purse and everything.”

 

She laughed a fake-sounding laugh; one Willow knew would grate on her if she had to listen to it too much.

 

“That sounds like a pretty great idea right about now,” Willow replied as she took another sip from her cup before suddenly finding a hand shoved her direction.

 

“Lucille,” the woman offered as their hands shook and she then took hers back, looking Willow up and down, “Your first?”

 

“Uh...” Willow started to reply, her eyes casting down to her stomach, “Well, I have a son, but this is my first pregnancy. He’s adopted.”

 

“My sister adopted. A little girl, Lee-Ann ,” Lucille replied in a way that made Willow think she thought that made her an expert on the subject, before looking pointedly at Willow’s belly, “Of course, that was because she couldn’t get pregnant.”

 

Willow’s eyes narrowed at the woman’s tone and she set her jaw.

 

“Well, there’s lots of reasons to adopt. He kind of just fell into our hands.”

 

Lucille, unsurprisingly, looked like she was about to question some more but didn’t get a chance as Tara approached, two rolled up mats under one arm, and put her hand on Willow’s shoulder with a smile.

 

“Cooled down?”

 

“A little,” Willow replied, casting a wary glance to the other pregnant woman, “Um, this is Tara.”

 

“Lucille,” Lucille replied to Tara in that same faux-haughty tone, then giving Willow a look that on the outside appeared friendly but was laced with hidden derision, “Husband couldn’t make it?”

 

Willow reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her own ear.

 

“Husband doesn’t exist.”

 

Tara wasn’t quite sure what she’d walked in to, but could see her wife openly snarling at this Lucille and wasn’t sure she liked the contemptuous look they were receiving.

 

“I’m her wife,” she explained, taking Willow’s hand in indication.

 

Lucille gaped down at their conjoined hands, blinking repeatedly through wide eyes.

 

“And the baby’s father?”

 

Tara inhaled deeply and squeezed Willow’s hand to keep her calm.

 

“Our children don’t have a father.”

 

“All children have a father,” Lucille replied, not even trying to hide her disdain any longer, “I don’t know how you can live with yourself keeping a child away from its parent.”

 

Willow crushed the plastic cup in her hand and threw it into a nearby trashcan with more than a hint of rage.

 

“I think it would be worse to have a judgemental bitch for a mother. Hey, why don’t I ask your kids?”

 

Lucille’s eyes flashed with anger, her hands moving to her hips.

 

“How dare you!”

 

“How dare you,” Willow almost screamed, garnering the attention of all the other parents-to-be in the room, “Our children are loved and taken care of and provided for! We’re a family whether you like it or not!”

 

“With a parent that’s not even theirs,” Lucille sneered with a scathing look in Tara’s direction, “And the other one doesn’t even belong to you either.”

 

Tara’s brain snapped into action in that second and while she would normally try to calmly defend her family in a situation like that, she could almost see the steam blowing out of her wife’s ears and knew her blood pressure would be sky rocketing. With every increasing digit of that representing a threat to their baby in her mind, she dropped the mats to the ground let them roll away before putting herself behind Willow and pushing her towards the door.

 

“Go. Just go,” she hissed in her ear when Willow resisted, before grabbing her hand and all but dragging her out of the room and around the corner into the empty bathroom.

 

As soon as the door slammed behind them and Tara dropped Willow’s hand, the redhead tried to rush out again but Tara pulled her back. Willow spun around, livid.

 

“I’m not gonna let her think I’m ashamed, that we’re ashamed!”

 

Tara grabbed Willow’s wildly gestating hands by the wrists and looked at her intently.

 

“I know you’re mad but do not raise your voice at me.”

 

Willow’s shoulders slumped and her eyes closed but Tara could still see the tension etched on her face. She released her wife’s wrists and put her hands on the redhead’s upper arms.

 

“Her opinion has no bearing on our family.”

 

Willow tried to quash the anger swelling inside her, but she could feel the rage bubbling in her veins, her whole brain clouded with fury. Unable to contain it within herself, she found her arm raised on instinct and closed fist making a beeline for the wall, but jumped back in surprise when it connected with Tara’s chest instead as the blonde threw herself in front of the wall to stop Willow from hurting herself.

 

Willow yanked her arm back and looked at her fist in shock, shaking it free in hopes that it would somehow reverse what had just happened before her head snapped up to her wife who was grimacing slightly and rubbing the heel of her palm just under her collarbone.

 

“Tara!” she said in frightened disbelief, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth before shaking her head almost violently in a panic, “I-I’m so sorry, w-why did you, why did–”

 

She was cut off as Tara grabbed her arms again and made her keep still, fixing her with a steady gaze.

 

“You were going to hurt yourself,” Tara replied in a firm tone, barely feeling the dull ache in her chest as she tried to calm her wife, before adding soothingly, “Now calm down, okay? Don’t let some ignorant woman upset you or the baby.”

 

Willow fell forwards and rested her head on Tara’s shoulder. Tara wrapped her arms around the redhead and kissed the top of her ear, breathing a sigh of relief that Willow appeared to be relaxing slightly, then heard a whisper in her ear.

 

“I’m so sorry. I would never hurt you.”

 

“I know,” Tara soothed, stroking a hand down Willow’s hair, “You didn’t. It’s okay, honey. It’s all okay.”

 

She heard a small sniffle and felt Willow nuzzle into her shoulder.

 

“Why do people hate us so much for falling in love? That’s all we did.”

 

Tara inhaled deeply and squeezed her arms a little tighter.

 

“I don’t know, sweetie.”

 

Willow took comfort from the hug for another few moments before pulling away and shaking her head, her jaw obviously clenched.

 

“I don’t ever want our kids him to hear things like that.”

 

Tara sighed and gave her wife a regretful look.

 

“They will,” she said as she reached out to tuck a piece of hair behind Willow’s ear, “And they’ll know it’s all bullshit and that we love them and each other and that’s all that matters.”

 

Willow gave a small smile.

 

“Is that how you’re gonna phrase it to them?”

 

Tara’s lips quirked into a crooked smile.

 

“Maybe a little less bull and a little more... baloney,” she replied and saw Willow’s smile widen a little and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, “Let’s go get a tea and just be calm for a little bit.”

 

Tara felt Willow rest her head against her shoulder and nod, so started to lead them from the bathroom back into the hallway and towards the entrance to the centre where there was a coffee shop. Once there, Tara guided them to a small table in the corner, which Willow sat at and clasped her hands together in front of her, then mumbled under her breath.

 

“Sorry I caused a scene.”

 

Tara reached out and put a finger under her wife’s chin to raise it and offered her a warm smile.

 

“Don’t worry about it. That woman was asking for it,” she replied before tapping Willow’s nose affectionately, “Flavour?”

 

“Raspberry,” Willow replied resolutely, appearing more at ease before adding, “Chamomile if they don’t have it.”

 

Willow felt a rush of warmth and any residual feelings of anger and hurt from the altercation before leave her as a gentle kiss was dropped on her nose. She whispered ‘I love you’ in a barely audible tone a felt a hand squeeze her knee before Tara left her and went up to order.

 

She returned a few minutes later with two Styrofoam cups, placing one down in front of Willow.

 

“Raspberry Leaf Tea. And to put a bigger smile on your face,” she said, reaching into her front pocket and producing a large, wrapped cookie, “Triple Chocolate Chunk.”

 

Willow’s eyes lit up.

 

“Triple?” she asked, taking the offering and beginning to unwrap it, “Thanks.”

 

Tara smiled and sat on the seat to the side of Willow, then brought her cup up to her mouth and took a small sip from her vanilla latte. As the warm liquid flooded her taste buds, she noticed a blur rush past just ahead of her, one she recognised when Lucille stopped in place and glared at her.

 

Tara calmly lowered her cup before leaning over and kissing Willow squarely on the mouth. She felt her wife jolt slightly in surprise but gently respond after just a moment. She kept the kiss chaste and pulled away after several seconds. A quick glance in the direction of the main doors saw Lucille snarl and grab a confused and slightly scared looking man who had appeared behind her by the arm and dragging him out of the building. She couldn’t help a tiny grin playing on her lips and looked back to Willow, who was blushing and bashfully looking down.

 

“What was that for?”

 

Tara ran her thumb over her own bottom lip before sucking the tip into her mouth.

 

“You taste like chocolate, how could I resist?”

 

Willow broke off a piece of her cookie and handed it to the blonde.

 

“Thank you,” Tara smiled as she popped the piece into her mouth and began to chew on it.

 

Willow slowly picked off pieces of her cookie as she played what had happened in her mind, feeling slightly embarrassed and still more than mildly irritated. After a few minutes she heard Tara’s chair skid against the floor as it moved towards her and felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.

 

She smiled that Tara had sensed her need for a hug and bent her head down to rest on her chest as she quietly continued to enjoy her chocolate-chunk-filled treat.

 

They finished their beverages in comfortable silence until Willow felt Tara slide a hand down her arm and entwine their fingers together.

 

“What do you say, want to go try out the class? We were early, it only started 5 minutes ago, we’re not too late.”

 

Willow raised her head and almost petulantly shook her head, staring down into the lid of her empty cup of tea.

 

“I don’t want to see that woman again.”

 

She felt Tara move to her rest her chin on her shoulder.

 

“She stormed out about twenty minutes ago, husband in tow.”

 

Willow’s eyes widened slightly and she looked over to Tara.

 

“She did?” she asked, a small grin of satisfaction upon hearing that playing on her lips.

 

“Mmhhmm,” Tara nodded with a matching grin, “Probably couldn’t bear the thought of being in the same building as the evil lesbians.”

 

Willow looked conflicted but one idea did seem to be swaying her.

 

“I really don’t want to do those Friday classes...”

 

Tara grinned for another moment before standing and offering her hand.

 

“I’ll protect you from any big, bad homophobes.”

 

Willow took Tara’s hand and let herself be helped up before holding her pinky finger out.

 

“Promise?”

 

“Promise,” Tara agreed, linking her pinky with Willow’s, then using it to pull her forwards and planting a warm kiss on her lips, “Sealed properly.”

 

Willow smiled and visibly took a deep breath before re-taking Tara’s hand as they began to walk back down the hallways to the room they were in before.

 

The other couples were sitting in a circle in the middle of the room, with two new women, one in everyday clothes and one in light blue scrubs – the instructors of the class, a childbirth expert and a labour and delivery nurse – standing by a dry-erase board.

 

Tara pulled them both through the door and held up a hand in apology as the instructors looked to them in confusion.

 

“Sorry we’re late.”

 

Willow felt instantly uncomfortable as all the eyes in the room landed on them, but the two instructors seemed oblivious to the intense stares of the others and the nurse offered them a smile and waved them in.

 

“It’s alright, come on in. We were just doing introductions.”

 

Tara gave Willow a reassuring look and quickly went to the corner of the room where the abandoned mats they’d left earlier were still on the floor before going back and handing one to her wife. They both lay their mats out flat on the floor as the circle widened to accommodate them and Willow noticed the woman next to her lean in her direction.

 

“My kids go to school with Lucille’s kids,” the woman whispered and Willow felt a fresh rush of fear run through her before the woman alleviated it all with her next words and a knowing grin, “I’ve wanted to do that for years. Well done.”

 

Willow blushed but grinned at the same time as the woman straightened back on her mat with a quiet giggle, then noticed the nurse was looking in her direction.

 

“Would you two like to go next?”

 

Willow was confused as to what the nurse meant before remembering what she’d said about introductions.

 

“Oh right,” she said, before raising her hand in a wave, “I’m Willow. This is Tara. My wife. But you, um, probably all already know that.”

 

The group laughed and the instructors again looked lost but Willow figured that was a good thing so continued.

 

“Um, we’ve been together since college and we have a 5 year old son, JJ, but this is our first pregnancy. Oh and I’m 20 weeks.”

 

“Welcome Willow,” the plain-clothes instructor greeted, smiling at her, then Tara, “And Tara. I’m Erin, I’m an expert in childbirth and the Lamaze technique and this is Kelly, she’s been a labour and delivery nurse for 15 years.”

 

Kelly offered a smile and wave in their direction, which was returned before the introductions continued with the couple next to them. When everyone had said their names and welcomed each other, the instructors started the class, which for that day was mostly just talking and discussing prenatal development and the changes in happening during pregnancy.

 

The nurse then went through some various stretching to help keep the pregnant body flexible and some to prepare for eventual labour.

 

They finished with some basic breathing methods to start to learn correct technique and wind down.

 

When they were done, the couples all packed away their mats and said goodbye to each other before starting to make their way from the classroom.

 

“Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Tara said as she walked them through the parking lot, her arm around Willow’s waist.

 

Willow gave a small smile and shook her head.

 

“It was fun actually. Everyone was so nice.”

 

Tara laughed as she pressed the button to unlock their car and held the passenger side door open for Willow.

 

“There’s not a woman or a man in there that doesn’t understand an over-hormonal reaction.”

 

Willow blushed as she sat in the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt as Tara got in the driver’s side.

 

“Thanks for reining me in and calming me down and just generally being wonderful.”

 

“No need to thank me,” Tara replied, tapping the top of Willow’s nose affectionately, “I wouldn’t be wonderful without my Willow.”


	47. Chapter 47

  
“Okay, you can help me light the candles, but we have to be very careful okay?”  
  
  
JJ nodded solemnly as Tara picked the long-handled lighter up from the counter and let JJ grip the end. She pushed the button down to ignite it and heard JJ gasp as the flame shot from the end.   
  
  
“Cool!”  
  
  
“Carefully now,” Tara said as she helped guide the lighter over the circle of candles sitting atop the vanilla-iced chocolate cake until they were all flickering with a small flame.  
  
  
JJ watched the candles with rapt fascination until he noticed it being lifted upwards and jumped from the stool he had been sitting on, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly.  
  
  
“Can I carry it?”  
  
  
“It’s a little heavy, honey,” Tara replied regretfully, “But I bet Momma will let you help her cut it.”  
  
  
JJ seemed pleased by that compromise and started to move forwards by jumping, both feet at the same time, out of the room. Tara followed him as they crossed the hallway to the dining room, balancing the cake with one hand while she reached through the doorway with the other to flick the light-switch off.  
  
  
She heard JJ squeal in delight as they entered with just the blaze of the candles lighting up the room and started to walk towards where Willow was sitting at the head of the table, grinning in the darkness. She opened her mouth to begin to sing softly.  
  
  
“Happy birthday to you...”  
  
  
JJ ran over and jumped into the chair beside Willow, kneeling on it as he enthusiastically joined in on the singing.  
  
  
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Mommaaaaaa! Happy Birthday to you!”  
  
  
Tara placed the cake in front of Willow during the last line and clapped as the redhead blew them all out through a few breaths, heaving a huge puff of air when one stubborn one remained aflame.   
  
  
Tara moved to turn the light-switch back on before going back to Willow and planted a warm, long and lingering kiss on her cheek.  
  
  
“Happy birthday.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied with a light blush before turning to meet Tara's lips again.  
  
  
They kissed softly for a few moments before the sound of a whimper pulled them apart and turned their attention to their son, gazing longingly at the cake, having already plucked the candles from the top. Willow giggled and popped another quick kiss on her wife’s lips before picking up a knife nearby.  
  
  
“Who wants cake?”  
  
  
JJ grabbed the edge of the table and bounced up and down.  
  
  
“Me, me, me!”  
  
  
Willow turned the knife around so the pointed edge was towards her and the handle towards JJ.  
  
  
“Wanna help?”  
  
  
JJ nodded eagerly and reached out to grab the handle. Willow’s hand closed over his and together they plunged it through the white frosting and into the dark cake beneath. Willow could feel JJ’s hand shaking with excitement as they slid the crumb-adorned metal from the end of the cake and pushed it in again at an angle to create a triangular slice.   
  
  
She put a finger on top of the cut-out piece and slid it from the plate it was sitting on, dropping it on the small dessert plate at JJ’s place-setting. He wasted no time in picking it up, sans any cutlery, and bit it in almost in half.  
  
  
“Chew,” Tara called from across the table, having moved to sit on the other side of Willow.  
  
  
JJ closed his eyes as his jaw struggled to manage the large chunk of cake but eventually found himself able to swallow and grinned giddily as he took another, albeit smaller, bite.   
  
  
Tara watched him for another moment to make sure he wasn’t going to choke with his over-eagerness before picking up the same knife that had been used a moment before and cut a small piece off, which she then held out for her wife. Willow leant forwards and accepted the offering, her lips caressing Tara’s fingers as she did so.  
  
  
“Mmhh,” she softly moaned as a warm smile spread across her face, “Tastes like our wedding.”  
  
  
“Well it is the same cake,” Tara replied as she scooped a piece of frosting up with her finger and licked it off, “Although we had a Four Seasons pastry chef do our wedding cake.”  
  
  
“No way, yours is just as good,” Willow replied through a mouthful of another piece she had just cut off, “Better.”  
  
  
Tara reached over and stroked a hand down her wife’s hair.  
  
  
“You’re sweet.”  
  
  
“So’s this!” Willow replied as she licked an errant piece of frosting from her thumb, “So yummy.”  
  
  
JJ seemed to agree with his redheaded mother as he tried to pick every crumb from his plate before piping up in a hopeful tone.  
  
  
“Can I have more?”  
  
  
Willow looked to Tara to decide, who seemed contemplative of a moment before giving a small smile.  
  
  
“A little slice.”  
  
  
JJ beamed and held up his plate with a toothy grin as Willow cut another small slice for him. He enjoyed that one more slowly and once satisfied he’d consumed every last crumb and morsel of frosting, he pushed his plate away and started bouncing up and down again, the sugar hit clearly having gone straight to his blood stream.  
  
  
“Can I give you my present now?”  
  
  
“A present?” Willow asked, her eyes lighting up, “Sure!”  
  
  
JJ jumped from the chair and ran out the room, his footsteps echoing as he bounded up the stairs. Willow turned to Tara with a wide smile and leaned over to pop a kiss on her lips.  
  
  
“Dinner was so good. Thank you. I had a great birthday.”  
  
  
“I’m glad,” Tara replied with a soft smile, “Can’t have my birthday girl having a bad birthday.”  
  
  
Willow sat back in her seat and let her hands rest on her ever-growing bump.  
  
  
“I didn’t think on my last birthday I’d have our little bean growing inside me.”  
  
  
Tara brought a hand up to her mouth and laughed, resulting in a snort.  
  
  
“You were too busy freaking out about turning 30 to think about anything else.”  
  
  
“I didn’t _freak out_ ,” Willow replied defensively, before remembering her refusal to accept going into a new decade of her life, going so far as to trying to hack into county records to change her birth certificate in a brief moment of insanity before Tara caught her and metaphorically slapped some sense into her. She grumbled at the memory, then gave a relenting look, “Maybe a little. Doesn’t every woman?”  
  
  
Tara grinned and shrugged.  
  
  
“I didn’t.”  
  
  
Willow sighed and crossed her arms over her chest; Tara had indeed entered her thirties maturely and calmly, even happily so.  
  
  
“Well I’m sorry I’m not as perfect as you.”  
  
  
Tara reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her wife’s ear.  
  
  
“When you’re not trying to break federal laws, you’re pretty perfect yourself.”  
  
  
Willow turned her nose up indignantly.  
  
  
“It’s not breaking the law when you work for the FBI.”  
  
  
Tara grinned again and scrunched her nose up.  
  
  
“I think it still is.”  
  
  
Willow just shook her head and tried to remain firm but didn’t last long.  
  
  
“Fine. Maybe,” she relented after a moment, dropping her arms, “You’re just a know-it-all, aren’t you?”  
  
  
Tara leaned over so her face was just an inch away from Willow’s and gave her a smile that was both charming and cheeky at the same time.  
  
  
“I’m your know-it-all.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Willow replied, grinning as Tara’s breath hit her lips, “Well as long as your mine.”  
  
  
“Always,” Tara murmured before closing the gap and pressing their lips together warmly.  
  
  
Willow sucked on Tara’s bottom lip, moaning quietly at the sensation, too absorbed in the kiss to notice her wife reaching into her pocket and pulling something out until she felt it being placed in her lap. She pulled away and looked down to the small square box, wrapped in dark blue paper with a silver ribbon tied in a bow on top and felt a kiss pressed against her cheek.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday, my sweet.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow replied, her eyes bright and face giddy, “I love birthdays.”  
  
  
She pulled the ribbon free and slid a finger under the tape holding the wrapping paper together to reveal a box with a mahogany-coloured lid. She pulled the lid up and away and left it on the table, then pulled back the white tissue paper that was inside, picking up the silver bracelet nestled in there, small charms dangling from it.  
  
  
“Oh wow,” she said, bringing it up for closer inspection. There was a small crystal-embossed heart either end, and she counted 8 separate charms between them, that obviously had meaning, though she couldn’t identify what from just looking at them. She shot a beaming smile in Tara’s direction and scooted her chair closer to her wife’s, “Tell me about them.”  
  
  
Tara put one hand on Willow’s knee and the other under the bracelet.  
  
  
“Well, it’s kind of an ‘us’ bracelet,” she explained, putting a finger under the first charm, a coffee cup, “This is for when we met and you–”  
  
  
“Spilled your coffee all over you,” Willow cut her off with a small laugh and smiled as the memory floated through her mind before she moved her gaze to the next charm, “A swan…the swan boats.”  
  
  
Tara nodded and gave her wife an affectionate look.  
  
  
“We had our first kiss after that swan boat ride.”  
  
  
“Oh I remember,” Willow replied as a warmth filled her heart, then looked puzzled as she looked at the next charm, a flower, “You’re gonna have to help me out with this one, baby.”  
  
  
“That one…is to represent our first time together,” Tara explained and had to hold back a grin when she saw Willow’s confusion only increase, “Well…I did deflower you. And you, me, of course.”  
  
  
Willow’s cheeks flushed a deep red and Tara couldn’t help but giggle.  
  
  
“I thought it was less obvious than a bed.”  
  
  
“You’re naughty, missus,” Willow replied, still blushing but grinning as she put her thumb underneath the next trinket, a key, “This one seems more benign.”  
  
  
“For when we moved in together,” Tara replied, moving her hand from Willow’s knee to her shoulder and giving it a squeeze as she pointed out the next piece of dangling silver, interlocking circles, “And the circles are to represent our wedding rings.”   
  
  
Willow looked at her wedding ring and wiggled the finger before leaning over and kissing Tara’s cheek warmly. She lingered for a moment, then pulled back and looked back at her bracelet to decipher the next charm, in the shape of a small person; a circle crystal for a head, with a body of a green gem hanging from it, and crystal arms and legs dangling from that.  
  
  
“A child. And that’s an emerald. JJ’s birthstone.”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara confirmed with a soft smile, “And that next one should be pretty clear, a house.”  
  
  
Willow looked at the little house hanging from the bracelet, then around the room at the walls surround them.  
  
  
“I love our house.”  
  
  
“We have a very nice house,” Tara agreed with another squeeze to her wife’s shoulder before indicating to the last charm, “And last, but not least…”  
  
  
Willow brought her hand up and stroked the side.  
  
  
“A stork,” she replied softly, bringing a hand up to cover her heart, “Thank you. Thank you so much. I love it.”  
  
  
“One rule, only I’m allowed to buy you charms for it,” Tara replied as she moved to hold the gemstoned-child charm between her thumb and forefinger, “I’ll get another one of these when the baby’s born and then I’ll add some more every so often over our next…eternity together.”  
  
  
Willow swallowed a lump of emotion that started to form in the back of her throat.  
  
  
“Deal,” she said after a moment as she brought a hand up to the garnet and diamond heart necklace Tara had gotten her for their anniversary, the matching one she could see hanging around her wife’s neck, “You always get me the nicest jewellery.”  
  
  
Tara reached up and stroked the back of her fingers against her wife’s cheek.  
  
  
“I’m always looking for something as beautiful as you.”  
  
  
Willow averted her gaze bashfully.  
  
  
“Stop that. Don’t you know it’s dangerous for a pregnant lady to swoon?”  
  
  
Tara just took the bracelet from Willow’s grip and wrapped it around her wrist, securing the clasp. Willow moved into comfortable positioning and stared at it for a few moments before giving a delighted squeal and threw her arms over Tara’s neck.  
  
  
“I’m glad you like it,” Tara said softly, crossing her arms around the small of Willow’s back and pulling her close.  
  
  
Willow turned her head into Tara’s hair and inhaled the scent emanating from her, tightening her hold on her wife before moving to passionately capture her lips. She felt Tara’s reach up into her hair and the mouth against hers move ardently, making a flush of arousal shoot through her and a shiver of anticipation ripple up her spine at the prospects for the night ahead.  
  
  
She’d enjoyed her afternoon playing with JJ in the park, and the evening of being pampered with attention and food from Tara immensely, but she was really, _really_ looking forward to the rest of the night, alone with the woman who was all but sucking her lips off in that moment.  
  
  
She splayed her fingers out on the back of Tara’s neck and kissed her deeply until she heard a distinct pounding from the hallway above and then the stairs and pulled back just an inch.  
  
  
“I told Becky I’d drop JJ over to them around 7, so I can take him when we’re finished presents.”  
  
  
“Sounds good,” Tara breathed, an undeniable lilt of arousal in her tone before pulling away and adjusting herself in the seat as JJ bounded into the room, grinning and holding both hands behind his back.  
  
  
Willow cleared her throat and smoothed out her shirt over her bump before smiling excitedly at her son.  
  
  
“Whatcha got there, buddy?”  
  
  
JJ twisted from side to side as he bit his lip before finally revealing what he was hiding with a flourish of his arms, holding it out proudly with both hands.   
  
  
“Wow,” Willow said as she took the heart moulded out of pink Play-Doh and noticed it was painted on the front with different figures. “Did you make this?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and jumped back into a chair, leaning over to point at the etchings.  
  
  
“And I painted it and everything! There’s me and you and Mommy and the baby.”  
  
  
Willow saw the white blob at their feet and beamed from ear-to-ear.  
  
  
“You painted the baby?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” JJ nodded as she sprung up and down in his seat, “Do you like it?”  
  
  
Willow slid onto her knees on the floor and hugged her son tightly.  
  
  
“I love it,” she said through squeezes, before pulling back and shooting him a wide smile, “Why don’t we go put it in the living room so everyone can see?”  
  
  
JJ gave a proud smile and jumped from his seat, grabbing Willow’s hand and pulling her out of the dining room and across the foyer into the living room.  
  
  
“By the TV!”   
  
  
“Okay,” Willow agreed with a quiet laugh as they went over to the TV and she leant the heart against the edge, “How does that look?”  
  
  
“Good,” JJ replied with a definitive nod.  
  
  
Willow ran her hand around the edge of the piece before wrapping her arms around JJ again.  
  
  
“You’re the sweetest little boy.”   
  
  
JJ felt Willow’s bump hit against him and tried to return the embrace but found his arms unable to reach, making him pull away and scowl.  
  
  
“You’re hard to hug.”   
  
  
Willow giggled too and brought a hand up to ruffle her son’s hair.   
  
  
“Thank you very much for my present.”  
  
  
“'Welcome,” JJ replied, bashfully looking down to his feet.  
  
  
Willow pulled him close again and dropped a kiss on top of his head before moving back again.  
  
  
“Are you ready to go to Aunt Becky and Uncle Brian’s?” she asked and got an answering nod in return, “Okay, well go say goodnight to Mommy and I’ll take you over.”  
  
  
JJ nodded and started to run out of the room. Willow straightened up and left as well, checking that the overnight bag she’d packed for her son was by the door before turning back, and after a quick check to see the dining room empty, of people and dishes, she went into the kitchen where she saw Tara holding JJ to her chest, standing next to the opened dishwasher.  
  
  
“Okay, give me a big squeeze.”  
  
  
JJ threw his arms over Tara’s neck and Willow saw her wife squeeze him tight and hold his head to her shoulder.  
  
  
“Goodnight, sweetie. I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”  
  
  
“‘Night Mommy,” he replied, lingering for a moment before jumping down from his mother’s arms.   
  
  
Tara spotted Willow and picked up something wrapped in foil from the counter, holding it out in her direction.  
  
  
“Bring them some cake.”  
  
  
Willow went over and took the foil, then leaned over the island to press a kiss against Tara’s cheek.  
  
  
“I’ll be back.”  
  
  
“I’ll be waiting,” Tara replied in an alluring tone before leaning over the dishwasher to put another plate in.  
  
  
Willow couldn’t be sure, but she swore her wife was wiggling her ass a lot more than was necessary and had to stuff her hands in her pockets to stop herself from reaching out to touch, all too aware that JJ was standing right next to her. She let her gaze linger for a moment before clearing her throat and put a hand on JJ’s back.  
  
  
“Okay, come on, little man.”  
  
  
JJ jump-walked out of the room and towards the front door, Willow right behind him. When they got there, she picked up his overnight bag and handed it to him.  
  
  
“I packed some of your Seuss books and your fire truck jammies, okay?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and put the backpack securely over his shoulders as Willow opened the door and they started to walk towards the car, the dark street illuminated by streetlamps littered around the block.  
  
  
Willow strapped JJ into his booster seat before getting into the car on the driver’s side, huffing a breath as the steering wheel squeezed her bump; Tara having been the last one to drive the car and hadn’t adjusted the seat back to where Willow had to have it to fit herself in.   
  
  
She pulled the lever at the side and let the seat back until she was comfortable, then turned the key in the ignition and reversed out of the driveway.  
  
  
She flicked the radio on, more for JJ’s amusement than her own, and drove them the 20 minutes it took to get to Becky and Brian’s apartment block. She parked the car on the street and brought JJ up to the building, ringing the intercom and hearing it buzz open a moment later, then went to the elevator and rode it to the 5th floor.  
  
  
When the elevator opened, they walked down the hallway to 504 and JJ eagerly knocked on the door. It swung open after just a second to reveal Becky.  
  
  
“Well if it isn’t the birthday girl.”  
  
  
Brian appeared at Becky’s side then and smiled at them both.  
  
  
“Hi, Willow. Happy Birthday,” he greeted warmly before waving at JJ, “Hey there, little dude. I was just reading.”  
  
  
JJ stepped over the threshold, his eyes slightly widened.  
  
  
“I like to read.”  
  
  
“You do?” Brian asked as he started to lead JJ away, “Have you ever heard of James Joyce?”  
  
  
Willow saw JJ shake his head before they disappeared around a corner, then looked to Becky, who was grinning.  
  
  
“Hey, when we were in college and I was boning anything with a pulse and a six-pack, did you think I’d end up with a nerd?”  
  
  
Willow’s mouth hung open in shock.  
  
  
“Becky!”  
  
  
“What?” Becky asked defensively, “What? I love him. More than anything. But 10 years ago, if you had to guess I’d be with the cutie in the corner wearing glasses instead of the shirtless guy playing Frisbee, you would have bet your 4.0 GPA on the second option.”  
  
  
Willow couldn’t really argue that point, much as she may have wanted to, and gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“There’s no planning who we fall in love with.”  
  
  
“Yeah, I guess,” Becky replied with a fond smile in the direction her boyfriend had just left before shaking her head, “He reads for fun. Can you believe that?”  
  
  
Willow frowned and looked bewildered.  
  
  
“Becky, you’re an English teacher.”  
  
  
Becky puffed out a breath and shook her head.  
  
  
“And I still don’t know as much about literature as him.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes narrowed.  
  
  
“Have you ever seen that movie Bad Teacher? I’m starting to think you’re like that with your students.”  
  
  
Becky’s eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together.  
  
  
“Are you saying I look like Cameron Diaz? Thank you!”   
  
  
Willow’s brow creased and she shook her head.  
  
  
“That wasn’t the point…”  
  
  
“Is it this new haircut?” Becky asked, ignoring what her friend had just said as she turned to play with the end of her hair, looking into the mirror that was on the wall, “I was going for Scarlett Johansson but Cameron Diaz totally works too.”  
  
  
Willow blinked a few times in quick succession.  
  
  
“I worry for the future generation.”  
  
  
Becky grinned and stopped playing with her hair, shooting Willow a wink to let her know she knew they were only teasing; their rapport with each other the kind you can only have when you’ve known each other as long as they had. Willow gave her a smile back.  
  
  
“Thanks for taking care of him,” she said before remembering the wrapped foil in her hands and offering that to her friend, “Oh and I brought you cake.”  
  
  
“Did Tara make this?” Becky asked and gave a look of delight when Willow nodded, “Score.”  
  
  
She peeled back the foil and peered at it before pulling a chunk off and popping it into her mouth.  
  
  
“Hey, this is the same cake you had at your wedding,” she said through chews.  
  
  
Willow smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“Good memory.”  
  
  
Becky swallowed and brought the tip of her thumb, a stray piece of frosting attached, to her mouth, sucking it lightly.  
  
  
“I only remember ‘cause Brian tasted like the frosting when he kissed me that night.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small grin.  
  
  
“Funny, Tara did too.”  
  
  
Becky laughed and broke off another piece.  
  
  
“Your wedding was a good day for me.”  
  
  
“Well I’m glad someone had fun, it was so awful for me,” Willow replied sarcastically before handing Becky the overnight bag, “Small tip, he prefers Green Eggs and Ham to Ulysses, at least for bedtime reading.”  
  
  
“Got it,” Becky replied, throwing the bag over her shoulder, “Alright, your kiddie’s safe, go and have your kinky birthday sex.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes went wide and she hissed at her friend, who just laughed.  
  
  
“Tell me that’s not the reason you asked us to look after him.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and put a hand either side of her bump.  
  
  
“You should be careful who you tease, Becky, I have like 20 pounds on you with this thing.”  
  
  
Becky smiled and gestured down towards Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“How is your future offspring?”  
  
  
Willow beamed and gave her belly a squeeze.  
  
  
“Kicking like crazy these days.”  
  
  
“Has Tara still not caved on knowing the gender?” Becky asked and gave a long whistle when Willow shook her head, “Stronger than me.”  
  
  
“Yep. That’s my girl,” Willow replied before running a hand through her hair, “My girl waiting for me at home...”  
  
  
Becky chuckled and gave the redhead a wave.  
  
  
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Not too early, I’m guessing.”  
  
  
“Not if past birthdays are any indication,” Willow replied with a grin as she started to walk back down the hallway, “See ya.”  
  
  
“Bye!” Becky called after her while smirking, “You might want to open up those top buttons a little.”  
  
  
Willow shot her friend a look over her shoulder before turning the corner back to the elevators. She heard the door to the apartment bang closed as the elevator ones opened.   
  
  
She stepped in and rode it down to the ground floor, fetching her keys from her pocket as she left the building and walked back to her car.  
  
  
The short drive home seemed to take a lot longer than the ride over had; Willow’s sense of anticipation growing every second as she thought about what she was sure was waiting at home for her, what she had been thinking about ever since she’d sprung Tara shopping for that day a few weeks ago.  
  
  
When she finally pulled into the driveway, she jumped from the car as quickly as she could manage with the extra weight she was carrying and pressed the button to alarm the vehicle before rushing towards the door and inside the house.  
  
  
“Tara?” she called, not sure if her wife was maybe already upstairs.  
  
  
“In here,” Tara’s voice called out from the living room.  
  
  
Willow eagerly bounded over and into the living room, but stopped short just inside the door when she saw Tara sitting on the sofa, her foot propped up on the coffee table as she examined her nails, wearing just a fluffy white robe.  
  
  
Tara looked up as Willow entered the room.  
  
  
“Was he okay staying with them?”  
  
  
“Um, yeah,” Willow replied, confused at her wife’s attire, “Not a problem. He’ll probably come back with a Bachelor’s in English Literature if Brian has anything to do about it.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly before reaching over to the coffee table and holding up a collection of brightly-coloured, long and thin sachets.  
  
  
“I got us some really nice facemasks.”  
  
  
Willow stepped forwards, surprise and puzzlement etched on her features.  
  
  
“Face…facemasks?”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara nodded, “And a foot soak. You can pick a DVD out if you want, or we can see what’s on TV.”  
  
  
Willow wrung her hands in front of her, trying to comprehend what was happening.  
  
  
“You want to…have a girlie night in?”  
  
  
Tara shot a winning smile in her wife’s direction.  
  
  
“You said you wanted to stay home and relax.”  
  
  
“Right. I did say that,” Willow nodded, rubbing her palms down the side of her thighs, “Well, um, okay.”  
  
  
She moved forward and sat on the sofa, finding some enthusiasm for the differing plans. It might not have been what she expected to come home to, but any time with Tara was time well spent in her book, so she was happy to go along with what her wife had planned. She relaxed back into the sofa and rested her hands on her stomach.  
  
  
“Hit me with a facemask.”  
  
  
Tara reached over to the coffee table and held up a yellow-coloured facemask.  
  
  
“You can have this…”  
  
  
Willow started to reach for the item but found it out of her grip as Tara suddenly dropped it onto the sofa, then stood and untied the robe, slipping it over her shoulders, revealing her in matching black-and-red, lace bra and panties set with a similarly-themed garter belt around her waist, holding up red-lined fishnet stockings that were wrapped around her mid-thigh and finished mid-shin.  
  
  
Tara ran her hands down her sides and snapped the waistband of her panties in place as she gave Willow a sultry crooked smile.  
  
  
“Or you can have this.”


	48. Chapter 48

  
  
  
Willow’s jaw dropped and she felt her mouth go dry as her eyes shot up and down Tara’s body.  
  
  
“The second one,” she managed to say after several seconds, though it came out in a high-pitched squeak.  
  
  
Tara bent over so her breasts were shoved into Willow’s face, and picked up the facemask pack she’d left on the sofa before. She straightened up again, seeing Willow’s flushed cheeks try to follow her, making her head loll forward, and waved the pack in front of the redhead.  
  
  
“Are you sure? This apparently both revitalises _and_ refreshes.”  
  
  
Willow yanked the facemask from Tara’s hand and tossed it aside before grabbing her wife’s hips and pulling her forward; dropping her head onto Tara’s stomach and lavishing it with quick, needy kisses.  
  
  
“Oh my god,” she moaned as she pressed her lips against Tara’s skin over and over again, moving her hands over the blonde’s buttocks and down to the back of her thighs, “Mmhh, baby, you’re so…you look so…mmhh…”  
  
  
She squeezed the back of Tara’s thighs, in the space between where her panties ended and stockings began and continued to kiss along her wife’s hip bone and in towards her bellybutton until she felt herself being pushed back into the sofa by her shoulders.  
  
  
She bit her lip in anticipation as she watched Tara’s hips sway from side to side and went to move her hands to her thighs, inadvertently hitting against her stomach in the process. She looked down to her belly and her eyes suddenly widened before she looked back up to Tara.  
  
  
“Y-you can’t give me a lap dance. You can’t fit in my lap. You can’t give me a lap dance if you can’t fit in my lap!”  
  
  
Tara frowned, not having realised the impedance, and tried to bend down but it only became more clear that there was no way she’d fit in her wife’s lap, so she held out her hands for Willow instead. Willow just looked frustrated and annoyed and covered her face with her hands, so Tara bumped their knees together to get her attention and gestured upwards with her fingers.  
  
  
“Trust me.”  
  
  
Tara found her wife’s hands in hers in an instant and with a little effort, pulled her up so she was standing. Her hands slid down to Willow’s waist and around to the small of her back as she dropped her lips to her wife’s, kissing them softly but passionately.  
  
  
Willow wrapped her arms around the back of Tara’s neck and pressed her lips a little harder against the blonde’s as she felt herself being led out of the room. She let Tara guide her towards and up the stairs, noticing flashing between dark and light behind her eyelids as light switches were turned on and off on their way until she felt her foot reach the top step and opened her eyes to keep herself balanced.  
  
  
She kept in step with Tara as they turned down the hallway towards their bedroom and as they neared noticed soft red flecks standing out against the dark wooden floors, recognising them as a trail of rose petals, leading right into the bedroom.  
  
  
As they rounded the door into their room, Tara slowly pulled her lips away so she could turn to shut it, leaving Willow to take in the decor of the room. She noticed the petals curve around to the end of their bed, which was dressed with sheets the same red as the trim on Tara’s underwear.  
  
  
Each of their beside lamps were on to their lowest dim setting, with another lamp on the dresser just slightly brighter, making their bed illuminate and casting the rest of the room with a soft glow.  
  
  
She looked around the romantic setting in awe until she felt Tara’s arms wrap around her waist from behind. She leaned back into the touch and sighed softly.  
  
  
“You dressed _everything_ up.”  
  
  
“I did,” Tara whispered, bringing a hand up to brush some of Willow’s hair aside, placing soft kisses on her neck as she walked them towards the bed, “Lie down.”  
  
  
Willow didn’t need to be told twice and slipped from her wife’s embrace to carefully fall back onto the bed, scooting herself up until her head was against the pillows. She watched as Tara started to climb atop her, a sultry look in her eye, until she was straddling her.  
  
  
“I don’t know about you, but this feels like I’m in your lap.”  
  
  
“Y-yes,” Willow agreed, fumbling over her words, “In my lap.”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm. And if I’m in your lap,” Tara replied, swaying from side to side, “I can do this.”  
  
  
Willow watched, her mouth growing drier by the second, as Tara moved to a silent, sensuous beat above her, hitting their thighs together and running her hands down her own body.  
  
  
Willow felt her eyelids grow heavy with lust and squirmed underneath Tara before finding her hands flying out of their own accord to grab the blonde’s buttocks. Tara didn’t stop, but slowed down her movements as she looked behind herself to Willow’s hands, then bent forward, a palm placed flat above either of her wife’s shoulders, and bumped their noses together.  
  
  
“You know I don’t normally let you touch,” she whispered in a seductively low tone before moving her lips down to the redhead’s ear, “But since it’s your birthday...”  
  
  
Willow smiled an almost delirious smile as Tara’s tongue ran along the curve of her ear, then down into her neck and slipped her hands into the blonde’s panties, taking generous handfuls of her bare flesh.  
  
  
Minutes were lost to her in the feel of Tara’s silken skin underneath her fingertips and the soft, tender kisses being placed in and around her neck until the fact that was fully clothed underneath her half-naked wife became apparent to her, an imbalance she didn’t think she could bear for too much longer.  
  
  
Luckily for her, Tara seemed to be having the same thought as lips moved towards her collarbone and a hand followed, slipping under the collar of her shirt and sliding downwards, popping each metal button free on her way down until the material fell open either side of the redhead’s torso.  
  
  
“Tara,” she gasped as the blonde began kissing along the tops of her breasts, following the curve of her bra, right back up to her shoulder and into her neck again.   
  
  
She let out a low groan as Tara’s teeth scraped over her pulse point, then felt a hand try to snake underneath her and pulled it away, placing in over her clothed breast.  
  
  
“Front clasp.”  
  
  
Tara pulled away from her wife’s neck and glanced down at her wife’s bra, recognising the particular white, lacy garment before looking back up to Willow with a grin.  
  
  
“Oh yeah.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her lips to Willow’s chest again, planting soft kisses above her heart as her hand pulled the clasp of her bra apart, then poked her tongue out to swirl circles down between her breasts and over to her nipple.  
  
  
Willow let out a long moan as Tara tenderly bathed her sensitive nipple in her mouth, sucking and licking it into a stiff peak. Her moans grew louder as Tara gave the other nipple the same treatment, then engulfed her breast completely.   
  
  
She felt Tara’s hand come up to her other breast and gently squeeze, though as more minutes past she felt both her wife’s hand and mouth struggle to keep themselves in check around her tender breasts until finally the blonde pulled away and grabbed Willow’s cheeks, kissing her with the intensity she’d been keeping in before.  
  
  
Willow slid her hands into the back of Tara’s hair and matched her wife’s tongue, stroke for frenzied stroke. After several minutes of passionate kissing, Tara pulled away and sat back on her heels, hurriedly ridding Willow of her shoes and socks before pulling one foot onto her shoulder and dropping kisses around her wife’s ankle.  
  
  
She glanced in Willow’s direction, intending to give her a sultry smile, but instead frowned when she saw the redhead looking uncomfortable and let her hand lightly massage the sole of her foot.  
  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
  
Willow looked away, then glanced down self-consciously.   
  
  
“I just don’t feel very sexy in...stretchy, elasticized jeans.”  
  
  
Tara ran one hand down the side of Willow’s foot and brought the other to her wife’s waist.  
  
  
“There’s nothing you can’t make sexy,” she replied and moved her hand to Willow’s stomach, half on her exposed skin and the other half on the material covering it, “Especially stretchy, elasticized jeans.”  
  
  
Willow wriggled her hips with a giggle as Tara slipped her hand under the elastic and appeared to be more confident again.  
  
  
“Oh yeah?” she responded with a sly smile, “Well then you’re gonna go insane when you take ‘em off and see the stretchy panties I’m rockin’.”  
  
  
“Oh you are turning me on like crazy,” Tara replied, dropping Willow’s leg to grab her hips and pull the sides of her jeans down.  
  
  
Willow giggled and helped twist herself free of the garment which was thrown to the floor before Tara slipped her hands inside the waistband of the panties and stretched them out as far as they would go.  
  
  
“Tara!” Willow giggled again, squirming around, “Stop!”  
  
  
“But they’re so sexy,” Tara replied through a grin, pulling at the elastic and snapping it in place as Willow laughed until their eyes met with a lingering gaze and she ran her hands back up the redhead’s sides and shifted so she was lying alongside her, stroking her face lightly, “I love you.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly and leant over to take Tara’s lips, gently kissing her as a hand moved back down her body and slipped into the front of her panties. Her moan vibrated against her wife’s lips as Tara’s fingers glided along her slick folds and hit against the bump in her flesh.  
  
  
Tara didn’t tease the redhead for too long and began a light, circular motion with the pads of her fingers over Willow’s clit, pushing her tongue into her wife’s waiting mouth as she did so. It didn’t take long for Willow to start demanding more through fervent hip thrusts and deep moans, swallowed by Tara but still felt as they pulsed against her.  
  
  
Tara started to quicken the pace of her fingers, but when Willow continued to insistently bear down, she sat back between her wife’s legs and quickly pulled her panties down past her knees and over her ankles to fall on the floor before grabbing the redhead’s hip and pulling her forwards to sink two fingers inside her.   
  
  
Willow let out a low moan mixed in with a relieved sigh and threw her arm back to grab onto a slat in the headboard, pumping her hips as fast as she could, her eyes shut tight as deep heat and pleasure spiralled out from her core.  
  
  
She felt Tara try to match the pace she was setting and let go of the headboard to bring her hands to roughly grab her wife's hips, trying to get as much momentum behind her thrusts as possible.  
  
  
Deep, resounding groans left her mouth as she gazed lustily at Tara in all her lingerie-clad glory and kept a steady focus on the blonde’s breasts as they jiggled in time with their bodies pushing into each other.  
  
  
“Tara, I’m com–” she tried to speak but cut herself off with a whimper as her lower abdomen began to throb and she felt a tension start to radiate outwards.  
  
  
Tara brought her thumb back to Willow’s clit and rubbed it up and down in the same tempo her fingers were moving in and out, watching her wife’s eyelids begin to flutter and feeling her body starting to shake around her.   
  
  
She felt the hands on her hips stop pulling at her, instead fingernails began digging into the flesh surrounding her pubic bone; then looked on as Willow threw her head into the pillows and arched her back with a deep gasp, leaving her mouth hanging open with an expression of ecstasy etched on her face.  
  
  
Tara watched her wife’s heaving chest with more than a little arousal and kept a slowed but steady rhythm of her fingers until she felt Willow’s inner muscles stop spasming and gently removed them to bring them up to her mouth.  
  
  
She felt a wave of tingles in her stomach as she sucked and licked them clean before sliding that hand down her own stomach and into her panties, allowing herself a moment of much-needed friction against her throbbing bud before twirling her fingers in her abundant arousal.   
  
  
She then moved back to lie on her side alongside Willow and brought those fingers up to her wife’s mouth, gently tracing her lips as she tried to lure the redhead back into consciousness.   
  
  
Willow responded almost immediately, her lips twitching momentarily, followed by her tongue poking out, the tip sliding along the side before Tara suddenly felt her wrist being grabbed and her wife’s mouth sucking on her fingers with gusto.  
  
  
Willow eagerly licked until she was sure Tara’s arousal was lingering on every one of her tastebuds and relaxed her neck back against the pillows with a satisfied sigh, her tongue still slipping out to lick her lips.  
  
  
“You really committed back there,” she said after several moments of comfortable silence, through laboured breaths before gigging, “Facemasks.”  
  
  
Tara propped herself up on one elbow and grinned.  
  
  
“Have I told you I like to surprise?”  
  
  
Willow turned her head in Tara’s direction and reached out to slide her palm into her generous cleavage.  
  
  
“Have I told you I like this?” she asked, squeezing her wife’s breast through her bra before sliding her hand down to the back of the blonde thigh, tracing a finger around the rim of her stocking, “And this?”  
  
  
Her fingertips danced up Tara’s thigh and slipped under the fabric around her waist to firmly cup her buttock.  
  
  
“And this?”  
  
  
Tara gave a crooked smile as Willow squeezed her cheek.  
  
  
“Not in so many words, but your leering and grabby hands were a bit of a giveaway.”  
  
  
“Grabby hands, huh?” Willow asked, taking her hand from Tara’s panties and throwing her leg over the blonde to get some leverage to push herself on top of her wife, “I’ll show you grabby hands.”  
  
  
Tara squealed as Willow’s hands descended on her, grabbing and squeezing whatever piece of flesh they came in contact with, moving so fast that the overall sensation was that of tickling.  
  
  
“Those grabby enough for ya?” Willow asked through a grin as Tara giggled and writhed under her, before noticing something out of the corner of her eye on her nightstand and stilled her hands, “Hey, what’s that?”  
  
  
Tara looked over to find out what Willow was talking about before reaching out for the item in question, a small, dark blue bowl, and turned back to the redhead with a grin, holding it up in offering.  
  
  
“I managed to save some of the leftover frosting before JJ got his hands on it.”  
  
  
Willow's face lit up and she took the bowl in her hands. She ran two fingers around the inside, gathering the soft white mixture on them before placing the bowl back on the bed.  
  
  
“Well we can’t let this go to waste.”  
  
  
She dropped her hand to Tara’s mouth and dragged them over her bottom lip, leaving a trail of frosting behind her before leaning down to suck that lip between hers, tasting the sweetness of more than just the sugary glaze. She slowly pulled away, releasing Tara’s lip bit by bit until it was free, then turned to scoop another small piece of frosting from the bowl and held it up.  
  
  
“Stick your tongue out.”  
  
  
Tara stuck her tongue out as far as it would go and wiggled it teasingly, resisting the urge to slip it back into her mouth when Willow deposited the blob of frosting on the tip. She felt warm desire run through her as Willow’s tongue flicked against the side of hers before finally sliding along the top and pressing down so the frosting dissolved between them.  
  
  
Tara couldn’t fight the natural urge to swallow then but found Willow’s tongue attached to hers as it fell back into her mouth, continuing to play with her. Every time she tried to initiate some more forceful stroking, Willow retracted her tongue and denied any contact for a few seconds before resuming her teasing.  
  
  
Eventually Tara became sure she couldn’t take much more without her insides just melting into each other and pulled away, frustrated.  
  
  
“Do you know what you’re doing to me?”  
  
  
Willow grinned a knowing grin and dropped a hand to Tara’s breast, lightly circling the nipple that was quite predominately sticking up through her bra.  
  
  
“I have a pretty good idea,” she murmured before Tara felt some frosting slathered on her neck and eager lips sucking on her pulse point.  
  
  
Tara tilted her neck to the side and moaned, then brought her hand down to stroke Willow’s hair with a soft sigh.  
  
  
“Okay. Keep doing it.”  
  
  
“I plan to,” Willow breathed into her ear before nibbling on her lobe.  
  
  
Tara began to clutch at the sheet as Willow’s teeth scraped and tongue poked out along her skin, from her neck and over her collarbone before the redhead pulled her lips away and sat back on her heels. Tara saw her reaching into the bowl again, then felt a finger move across her chest in a pattern she thought she recognised and looked up to her wife curiously.  
  
  
“Did you just sign me?”  
  
  
“Wait...” Willow replied, gathering some more frosting on one fingertip and starting to scrawl in the space between Tara’s breasts, “Rosen...berg...Maclay. Now I’ve signed you.”  
  
  
Tara looked down to her chest, smeared with white in various places, then looked back up at Willow.  
  
  
“I guess I belong to you now then.”  
  
  
“House rules. If your name’s on it, it’s yours,” Willow quipped before reaching to entwine both sets of hands together, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”  
  
  
Tara swung their hands either side of Willow’s hips.  
  
  
“I believe you.”  
  
  
Their eyes locked for a few intense seconds before Willow yanked Tara’s hands behind her to make the blonde jolt up in place, passionately capturing her lips. She felt Tara’s arms wrap around her neck and her head tilt to push their mouths closer together as she brought her own hands to the small of her wife’s back, slowly moving them up to trace the curve of her spine.  
  
  
As their kiss got more heated, one of Willow’s hands found its way back to Tara’s chest and palmed her breast through her bra before she began tugging at the fabric and pulled away just an inch.  
  
  
“Will you wear this for me again?” she asked softly and got a definitive nod, “Good. Then I don’t feel as bad taking it off you.”  
  
  
Tara tilted her chin back as Willow dropped her head into her chest and reached around to pull the hooks of her bra free. She felt the straps rush past her arms as it fell off her shoulders, then Willow’s hands fell to her waist, fumbling around for a moment before Tara heard a quiet whisper in her ear.  
  
  
“Baby, how do these work?”   
  
  
Tara moved her hand over Willow’s and guided her fingers to the right place.  
  
  
“Clips.”  
  
  
Willow let Tara’s hand help her unsnap the first clip holding the garter belt in place before starting on the others on her own and looking at her wife with an embarrassed smile.  
  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head and pressed her lips against Willow’s ear.  
  
  
“I’d be more concerned if you did know how to take it off considering I’ve never worn one before.”  
  
  
Willow slipped her hand inside the fabric of the belt and her wife’s panties, rubbing her hip.  
  
  
“Is it comfortable?”  
  
  
Tara nodded.  
  
  
“You can adjust it on your hips until it fits right.”  
  
  
Willow looked intrigued.  
  
  
“It’s adjustable?” she asked, pulling Tara’s hips forward and knocking her own against them, “Well maybe I’ll have to adjust it on me when the belly’s gone. Would you like that?”  
  
  
Willow watched as Tara gave a slow nod and her eyes darkened in arousal. She grinned and took her hand back, putting one finger on Tara’s chest and pushing her back onto the mattress so that she was kneeling between her legs.  
  
  
“Well, until then...”  
  
  
She put her fingers inside the top of one stocking, slowly dragging it down her wife’s leg, then did the same with the other stocking. The garter belt and panties followed in very quick succession and Willow splayed her hands on either of Tara’s thighs, brazenly looking at her wanton, pink flesh and licked her lips.  
  
  
“Finally,” she said, dragging her gaze up to meet Tara’s, “It’s harder to get into your panties in that thing than it was when we were first dating.”  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow at her wife and shot her an unimpressed look.  
  
  
“What? It’s a joke,” Willow giggled, “You know I’m only playing. Now, I see two perfectly round little cakes that I need to ice...”  
  
  
Tara’s breath hitched as Willow coated each of her nipples with a dollop of frosting and proceeded to greedily suck them clean. Her back arched as teeth tugged on her rock-hard peaks and Willow suckled on her breast and gathered the frosting leftover from when she'd 'signed' her, her tongue roaming and tasting the generous flesh until Tara was writhing uncontrollably and shaking with desire.  
  
  
Willow started to move her lips towards the centre of Tara’s chest, then downwards; placing long, wet kisses on her stomach until she reached her bellybutton. She pulled away then and grabbed the bowl, scooping up the last of the frosting with two fingers on each hand, then smothering it in a semi-circular motion from Tara’s bellybutton to the inside of her thighs.  
  
  
She picked up the now-empty bowl and placed it back safely on the nightstand before putting her hands on the side of Tara’s outer thighs, gazing between her legs for a moment before hurriedly reaching up to grab a pillow, lifting her wife’s hips and placing it under her.   
  
  
She frowned when she tried to bend forwards and still couldn’t quite reach, so grabbed the second pillow from her side of the bed and put it under Tara as well.  
  
  
“Is that okay? Not too high?”  
  
  
Tara shifted her hips for a moment; she was certainly elevated more than she was used to, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.  
  
  
“It’s okay...Willow, maybe you shouldn’t do that,” she responded, looking worried, “I don’t want you to strain your neck.”  
  
  
“Well I don’t want to stop doing this for the next four months,” Willow replied almost petulantly, then bent down in indication, “Look, no strain.”  
  
  
Tara looked unconvinced.  
  
  
“It won’t be as easy when you get bigger.”  
  
  
“So we’ll try different positions,” Willow replied exasperatedly, before grabbing Tara’s hips and pulling her forwards, “Now stop talking ‘cause it’s my birthday and I want my birthday treat.”  
  
  
Tara stayed stoic for a moment before smirking slightly.  
  
  
“Does moaning count as talking?”  
  
  
Willow grinned and shook her head.  
  
  
“Definitely not. And neither does screaming my name.”  
  
  
She threw a wink in the blonde’s direction before dropping her head to Tara’s stomach and licking away the frosting. She noticed her wife watching her and seductively held her gaze as her tongue traced the pattern down into Tara’s thigh, then back up to follow the trail on the other side.   
  
  
Tara sighed softly as Willow started to nuzzle into her curls and settled her head back against her pillows, closing her eyes.  
  
  
“Oh, okay. I’ll keep that in mi–iiiiiii, oh my–”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes flew open and her hips arched even more as Willow’s tongue entered her without any preamble, wiggling inside her and causing a surge of heat to erupt from within her.  
  
  
Willow kept a firm grip on Tara’s elevated hips as she slipped her tongue in and out, twisting it around in a circular motion so she hit each of her wife’s velvety walls in rotation, reaching and finding that spongy patch every opportunity she got and revelling in the reaction she got from the blonde.  
  
  
She was consumed with passion and heat in her body, every moan coming from Tara’s lips feeling like it was vibrating against her own clit; every thrust of Tara’s hips like she was moving inside her. She dug deeper and deeper with each push of her tongue, wanting as much of Tara as she could get, swallowing her wife’s desire and sending it down to her own core.   
  
  
She felt Tara unravelling around her at a fierce pace and made sure her wife was getting every ounce of pleasure she could give, moving her hand up to part the top of the blonde’s lips and turning her head so her nose was hitting against clit with each inward stroke, hearing a deep, resounding groan after just a few moments.  
  
  
Tara could do nothing but be still as an intense orgasm washed over her, all her breath taken by Willow’s deep and passionate lovemaking; the speed and strength having taken her by surprise, and left her in that state as it got faster and stronger.  
  
  
After what felt like hours of hazy bliss, she began to feel herself come back into her body bit-by-bit; first the feeling of the mattress against her back, then the hands that still had fistfuls of Willow’s hair entwined in them, and finally, with another jolt of surprise, her wife’s tongue still darting in and out of her, causing another instant, intense explosion inside her.  
  
  
“Willow!” she called through a strangled gasp, before her mouth hung open in a silent shriek as she shook almost violently against her wife, her back then crashing down against the bed.  
  
  
Still lost in her high, she thought she heard a cry against her very-sated flesh and thought she felt a clawing sensation on her thighs, but was too far gone to notice it for more than a passing second. Several long moments passed until she felt her legs falling freely onto the bed as the pillows were removed from under her and were thrown up beside her head, before Willow collapsed back against them, chest heaving and a telling glow emanating from her.  
  
  
Tara turned her head to one side to look at Willow and one side of her lips quirked upwards.  
  
  
“Did you just..?”  
  
  
Willow opened her eyes and turned her head towards Tara, grinning.  
  
  
“Uh huh.”  
  
  
Tara’s lips shifted into a smug smile and she placed her palm flat on Willow’s chest, tapping lightly.  
  
  
“That outfit really did it for you, huh?”   
  
  
“Oh yes,” Willow replied with slow, elongated syllables as she stretched her body out on the bed, “And naked-you did it even better.”  
  
  
Tara blushed and ducked her head, though was grinning and started to drag a single fingertip down her wife’s resting body, over her hip before moving her hand to the redhead’s stomach. As soon as she connected with her wife’s belly, she felt a series of swift movements against her palm and Willow clutched her side with a groan.  
  
  
“Oh baby, calm down, Momma needs to relax right now.”  
  
  
Tara looked down at Willow’s stomach, then dropped a kiss on her wife’s cheek before shuffling down in the bed so her head was level with the redhead’s belly. She caressed the bump for a moment before opening her mouth to sing softly.  
  
  
 _Lullaby, and good night,  
You're your mother's delight,  
Shining angels beside  
My darling abide.  
Soft and warm is your bed,  
Close your eyes and rest your head.  
Soft and warm is your bed,  
Close your eyes and rest your head..._  
  
  
Tara kissed the side of Willow’s belly and continued to hum quietly before Willow called down to her.  
  
  
“Your voice is like Valium.”  
  
  
Tara slinked back up her wife’s body and threw an arm protectively over her chest.  
  
  
“But no side effects.”  
  
  
Willow inhaled deeply and snuggled closer to her wife.  
  
  
“Only if feeling warm and mushy is a side effect.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head into Willow’s neck and placed a kiss under her ear.  
  
  
“Happy birthday, beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow sighed contentedly and slipped her arm behind Tara’s neck so she could play with the end of her hair.  
  
  
“Happy birthday to me.”


	49. Chapter 49

  
“Hello, Office of Children and Family Services, Tara Rosenberg-Maclay speaking.”  
  
  
“Hello, Tara, it’s Stephanie Peterson.”  
  
  
Tara looked across the office to her boss's door and frowned in confusion.  
  
  
“Um, hi, Steph.”  
  
  
“Tara, could you come in to see me please?”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes widened and she held the phone to her ear with her shoulder so she could put both hands on the keyboard.  
  
  
“S-sure. Is this about a case, do you need me to bring in a file?”  
  
  
“Just yourself. See you in a minute.”  
  
  
Tara heard a click as the other line hung up and let the phone slide into her hand, placing it back on the receiver. Her hand lingered for a moment before she cleared her throat and stood up, then heard Alice’s voice from the cubicle across from her.  
  
  
“Are you getting coffee? I need a caffeine hit.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head and wiped her palm against her pants.  
  
  
“Steph just wants to see me.”  
  
  
Alice spun around in her chair, grinning and twisting the pen she was holding between her hands.  
  
  
“Ooh, Tara’s getting called to the principal’s office.”  
  
  
“Not helpful, Al,” Tara replied through gritted teeth and heard her colleague laugh as she moved away from her desk and walked across the office to the same door she’d looked at just a few moments before.  
  
  
She balled her hand into a fist to knock and brought it up, hesitating for a few seconds before finding the nerve to have it connect with the wood, hearing a faint ‘come in’ a moment later. She twisted the knob to open the door and stepped inside her boss’s office. Steph stood as she entered and looked to Tara with a fond smile, gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of her desk.  
  
  
“Please, sit.”  
  
  
Tara went over to the chair and sat on the edge, folding her hands in her lap and looking at her boss expectantly. Steph sat back down in her own chair and pulled herself forwards, pushing some pieces of paper to the side for a few moments before finally regarding Tara.  
  
  
“I wanted to talk to you about your job.”  
  
  
“My job?” Tara asked in surprise, instantly paling, “Is my job not secure? I, I have a family and a baby on the way.”  
  
  
Steph smiled as she clasped her hands in front of her.  
  
  
“How are the family doing? Willow must be almost 6 months along now, right? JJ must be getting excited. And big. What age is he now?”  
  
  
Normally Tara would have been more than happy to engage in conversation about her family but the words ‘about your job’ kept running through her mind, becoming louder and more ominous with each repetition. She clenched her teeth to stop herself from blurting out something unprofessional and took a calming breath before managing to speak.  
  
  
“Um, yes, she’s 6 months along, this Wednesday just past actually. And it’s JJ’s birthday next week. He’ll be 6.”  
  
  
Steph smiled again and rested her chin on her fist.  
  
  
“Excited about being a big brother?”  
  
  
Tara silently pleaded for the pleasantries to stop but managed a nod again.  
  
  
“Very.”  
  
  
“Send them my regards,” Steph replied warmly, dropping her hand to the desk and tapping her fingers against the wood, “And you’re not to worry, your job is secure. Very secure actually.”  
  
  
Tara visibly relaxed, her eyes closing momentarily in relief before opening again, shining with confusion.  
  
  
“Very secure? What does that mean?”  
  
  
Steph leant forward, smiling like she had a secret.  
  
  
“You know Irene, who retired last week? You worked with her a few times.”  
  
  
Tara nodded a few times in quick succession; the older social worker had been someone she’d looked up and she had worked with her on a few cases in her years at the Buffalo office.  
  
  
“Yes, I did. She was wonderful with teenagers.”  
  
  
Steph smiled again and nodded.   
  
  
“She was. She fostered a lot of teens throughout the years, always had a wonderful way of relating to them,” she answered before looking intently at Tara, “I see that in you too. Though you have it with children of any age, from infants to being on the cusp of adulthood. I’ve seen you bring out things in kids I thought could never recover from what they’d been put through; turn children so damaged into ones with so much potential and self-belief. In all my years in this job, I’ve never met someone with quite as much empathy and compassion as you have.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes widened in surprise at the praise.  
  
  
“T-thank you,” she replied, unsure of what exactly to say.  
  
  
“You’re welcome,” Steph replied, looking at Tara to see if her employee understood what she was saying, then clarifying when she just remained blank, “I’d like you to take over Irene’s role as a senior social worker.”  
  
  
Tara’s jaw dropped and she blinked repeatedly before bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. She tried to process what exactly her boss was saying as she lowered her hand again.  
  
  
“Are you promoting me?”  
  
  
Steph nodded in affirmation and Tara continued to shake her head in disbelief.  
  
  
“There’s… a lot of people here so much more qualified.”  
  
  
“Well qualifications only speak so much. What use is a piece of paper on the wall if you can’t connect with a child or understand families?” Steph asked, before gesturing forwards with a hand, “And you’re right, there are some people in this division who are wonderful at their jobs and have attained the higher degrees. But you excel them. And you are the one I want on my senior team.”  
  
  
Tara could almost feel her brain exploding as everything her boss was saying finally registered.  
  
  
“What…what does this mean?”  
  
  
“Complete control and responsibility over your cases, as well as taking on a supervisory role for the junior care workers,” Steph answered, matter-of-fact, “You’ll also be assigned and do weekly visits to one of our foster homes, be a liaison between us and the care workers there.”  
  
  
Tara nodded along as her boss spoke, excitement and adrenaline pumping through her before frowning as a thought occurred to her.  
  
  
“What about working hours?”  
  
  
Steph nodded to herself as if in thought for a moment before speaking.  
  
  
“I know you manage your hours so you can collect your son from school. I’m still happy for you to work the hours you work. We can arrange the foster home visits to be in the morning, probably Mondays, and after that you can arrange your own schedule. Our senior workers generally have a lesser case load to accommodate the other aspects of the job, and I’m confident you can continue to perform as you have for the last 6 years. You will need to make sure you approve anything you need to by the end of your working day, which might mean putting a bit of pressure on your subordinates, but that’s something you’d have to do anyway.”  
  
  
Tara covered her hand with her mouth again, awed into silence then laughed.  
  
  
“Is this really happening?”  
  
  
Steph smiled and grabbed a pen from a selection she had in front of her and started jotting something on a notepad.  
  
  
“We have case review meetings every Monday mid-morning. I’ll arrange all the official things before then and we can all discuss cases going forward and whether we need a switch-up with the supervisory roles.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head in shock and disbelief.  
  
  
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”  
  
  
“I’m delighted to have such a capable woman on our senior team,” Steph responded kindly before grinning slightly, “And I’m sure you were wondering; 15% pay bump and an additional week holiday pay.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyebrows shot up.  
  
  
“Wow.”  
  
  
Steph smiled and looked towards the door.  
  
  
“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off and go home and celebrate.”  
  
  
Tara gave a single shake of her head.  
  
  
“Friday’s my long day. I still have hours left.”  
  
  
“Anything that can’t be finished Monday morning?” Steph questioned and Tara shook her head again.  
  
  
“No, it’s just reports for home visits I went on this week. All the urgent paperwork is filed.”  
  
  
“Go home,” Steph grinned, “Enjoy your weekend. Come back to us on Monday ready to start in your new role.”  
  
  
“I will, I will,” Tara answered, then her brow creased, “The parental leave I asked for... Will this affect that? Because Willow and the baby have to come first.”  
  
  
“I wouldn’t dream of denying a child time with its mother,” Steph replied reassuringly, “I’ve already arranged your cover for that period, and I'll be looking to bring in two extra juniors to replace your role as it is now. If anything, we'll be overstaffed. It won’t be an issue.”  
  
  
Tara felt her lips widening into a huge smile and promptly stood, extending her hand out.  
  
  
“Thank you. I...I will not let you down.”  
  
  
“Which is exactly why I chose you,” Steph replied, shaking Tara’s hand, “I know you’ll be telling Willow of course, but I’d appreciate it if we could keep this between ourselves until the Monday meeting, I’d like to inform the team altogether.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied, gesturing in front of her with her hands as she tried to think of what else to say, “I…Thank you.”  
  
  
She reached forwards to shake Steph’s hand again before leaving the office, trying to contain the massive grin on her face, though obviously wasn’t succeeding as Alice stared at her suspiciously the moment she approached the cubicles again.  
  
  
“What’s got you so happy?”  
  
  
Tara turned away from Alice and started to gather her things.  
  
  
“Just get to go home early.”  
  
  
Tara heard Alice scoff.  
  
  
“Teacher’s pet.”  
  
  
“She’s a mom, she knows what it’s like,” Tara replied calmly, leaning over to shut down her computer, “Just letting me have some extra time with the family.”  
  
  
Alice crossed her arms over her chest indignantly.  
  
  
“I’m a mom.”  
  
  
Tara gave a small grin.  
  
  
“You don’t have a pregnant spouse.”  
  
  
Alice grinned and laughed.  
  
  
“I’d be pretty worried if Jesse came home and told me he was pregnant. Although it would explain the beer gut he’s starting to get.”  
  
  
Tara laughed as well as she swung her purse over her shoulder as she looked over to her aunt’s empty desk.  
  
  
“Tell Michelle I said bye.”  
  
  
Alice nodded and brought her hand up in a wave.  
  
  
“I’ll let her know. Bye, Tare.”  
  
  
Tara waved a few fingers in goodbye as she did a final check that she had everything in her purse before bouncing out of the offices and to the elevators, riding them to the underground parking lot. She all but skipped to her car and jumped inside, starting the engine as she hummed happily along with the radio that turned on automatically.  
  
  
An ear-to-ear grin stayed plastered on her face as she coasted home, fingers tapping against the steering wheel until she finally pulled into her driveway, noticing JJ lying stomach-down on the lawn, comparing pieces of grass against each other.  
  
  
He jumped up as soon as the car pulled up alongside him and ran towards it as Tara exited, leaping into her arms.  
  
  
“Mommy, mommy!”  
  
  
“Hello, beautiful boy,” Tara replied, catching him in time and squeezing him to her chest for a moment before he pushed away, looking at her hopefully.  
  
  
“Will you make mac’n’cheese? Momma won’t ‘cause she says the baby doesn’t like the smell.”  
  
  
Tara began to walk them towards the front door of the house.  
  
  
“You know what, I am going to take you and Momma out for dinner and you can have anything you like.”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes lit up and he started bouncing in his mother’s arms.  
  
  
“Ice-cream?”  
  
  
“Absolutely!” Tara replied enthusiastically as she pushed the already-ajar door open and set JJ on the ground, “Go put a nice sweater on.”  
  
  
JJ fist-pumped the air as he ran into the house and made a beeline for the stairs, zipping past Willow who was making her way down them.  
  
  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!”  
  
  
“Don’t run in the house!” Willow called after him, shaking her head in his direction before looking down, her whole face lighting up as she saw her wife, “Tara!”  
  
  
“Hello my lovely,” Tara greeted as Willow descended the last few stairs, taking her hands and pulling her close to drop kiss on her lips.  
  
  
Willow moved her lips warmly against Tara’s for a few moments before pulling back and placing her palms on her wife’s chest.  
  
  
“What are you doing home so early?”  
  
  
“I missed my missus,” Tara replied, taking a hold of Willow’s hips and planting another deep smooch on her.  
  
  
Willow gladly accepted the show of affection and returned the kiss before pulling away with a curious look on her face when she felt Tara bouncing up and down on the spot.  
  
  
“What is it? What’s that big Tara-grin about?”  
  
  
Tara took her hands from Willow’s hips and gestured down herself.  
  
  
“You are looking at…”  
  
  
“My wife,” Willow ventured but Tara just continued to grin so she guessed again, “A beautiful woman.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head and Willow lightly tapped her hand against the blonde’s chest.  
  
  
“Someone who’s being deceptively coy and needs to spit it out!”  
  
  
“The newest addition to the circle of senior social workers at the Buffalo OCFS division,” Tara blurted, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth but still obviously beaming behind them.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes widened in shock.  
  
  
“What?!” she all but screamed, taking handfuls of Tara’s shirt, “You got promoted?!”  
  
  
Tara could only nod excitedly and Willow started jumping in place as well.  
  
  
“I didn’t even know you were up for promotion!”  
  
  
“Neither did I,” Tara giddily shook her head, “One of the older social workers retired last week and they want me to replace her. I never though…I didn’t even think I could…I thought, I thought maybe in a few years, when the kids were older, I could maybe go back to school–”  
  
  
“You still can,” Willow interjected, nodding eagerly as well.  
  
  
“Yes, yes I can,” Tara beamed, “But my boss promoted me anyway because she said I have the most potential for the job and thinks I’m the best one for it.”  
  
  
Willow squealed and threw her arms around Tara’s neck.  
  
  
“You are phenomenal,” she whispered, pressing her lips repeatedly against her wife’s cheek.  
  
  
Tara felt herself flush as Willow kissed over to her other cheek and left a trail there before grabbing the sides of her face and kissing her lips warmly.  
  
  
“So proud of you. So proud.”  
  
  
Tara looked down bashfully for a moment before back at her wife.  
  
  
“I’m taking you two out to dinner to celebrate.”   
  
  
Willow looked over her shoulder towards the stairs.  
  
  
“Is that what he was so excited about?”  
  
  
Tara nodded as Willow looked back to her and gave a crooked grin.  
  
  
“I can, uh, flash the cash a little now.”  
  
  
“Oh really?” Willow asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
  
“15% bonus,” Tara replied, a proud smile falling on her face.  
  
  
“That’s, that’s not small change,” Willow responded, internally doing the figures, “That’s…8 grand a year. That’s a lot of diapers.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and nodded.  
  
  
“And maybe even a vacation. Which we could take with my extra week of paid days.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes lit up.  
  
  
“Tara, that’s great! We’ll have the same vacation days! Let’s do it, let’s go on vacation before the baby comes, just the three of us.”  
  
  
Tara thought for a moment before smiling.  
  
  
“Give me a month to settle into the job and wait for JJ’s school to let out. Then I’ll go anywhere you want.”  
  
  
“Really?” Willow asked, clapping her hands together, “Okay, but I can’t fly after my 36th week, so we have to go before the end of June.”  
  
  
“Well the end of June sounds perfect,” Tara replied, putting her hands on Willow’s shoulders and giving them a squeeze, “You can get into research mode.”   
  
  
Willow once again threw her arms around Tara’s neck.  
  
  
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” she repeated, throwing more kisses on Tara’s cheek before pulling back just enough so they could see each other, “We’ll do whatever we have to do to work around your new hours. I’ve been talking to the boys about cutting back a little anyway now bean is getting so big.”  
  
  
“I can work the same hours,” Tara replied before scraping her teeth over her bottom lip for a moment, “Maybe for the first week, you could collect JJ from school in case there’s some settling in problems?”  
  
  
Willow popped a kiss on her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“No problem. Longer if you need.”   
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara replied, rubbing Willow’s hips under her pants, “You’re an angel.”  
  
  
Willow tightened her arms around Tara’s neck and rested their cheeks together as she moved to whisper in her wife’s ear.  
  
  
“I’m so proud of you. I told you that, right? I'm saying it again. So proud.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara lay naked in bed, her hands above the covers and thumbs turning around each other, having been told a few minutes before to ‘strip, get in bed, and wait’ before Willow had disappeared into their closet, right after they'd come home from a family dinner and had put JJ to bed together. She’d eagerly disrobed as Willow left her with a lingering kiss and had experimented with some different nude poses before giving up, feeling silly after a minute or two without Willow reappearing.  
  
  
She let out a lengthy sigh and tapped her fingers against the blanket before the sounds of struggle and heavy breathing caught her attention from the closet. Her brow creased in concern and she sat up straight in the bed, holding the blanket to her chest.   
  
  
“Honey?” she called out, only to hear a loud grunt, “Honey, are you okay? You sound like you’re going into labour in there.”  
  
  
There was a frustrated sigh before Willow appeared in the doorway of the closet, her cheeks flushed and hair sticking up in some odd places, wearing just her bra and panties. She crossed her arms over her chest and blew a piece of hair away that had fallen in front of her face.  
  
  
“I was trying to put something sexy on for you but nothing fits.”  
  
  
Tara gave a soft smile and shook her head.  
  
  
“You don’t need to put something on to look sexy. I’d just be taking it off anyway.”  
  
  
Willow still looked disappointed at her thwarted efforts, so Tara lay back on the bed, holding the blanket coyly close to her chest as she went down before throwing it to the side and holding her arms out.   
  
  
“Come get inside me.”  
  
  
Willow instantly brightened and giddily bit her lip as she sauntered over to the bed, climbing on and jumping to straddle Tara, who let out an unintentional ‘oof’ at the added pressure.  
  
  
Willow’s face dropped again and she rolled off to lie on her back, folding her arms over her chest.  
  
  
“I’m failing at trying to give you ‘wow, you’re so amazing and I’m so proud of you’ sex.”  
  
  
Tara turned herself on her side and moved to stroke her fingers down her wife’s cheek.  
  
  
“I don’t want you to give me anything but yourself.”  
  
  
Willow scowled slightly.  
  
  
“Well I have plenty to give.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head into Willow’s neck and started placing small kisses on her skin there.  
  
  
“You’re so beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow felt flutterings begin in her stomach but continued to pout.  
  
  
“I just crushed you.”  
  
  
Tara lifted her head and shook it, trying to look reassuring.  
  
  
“No you didn’t. You didn’t. I just turned my leg the wrong way.”  
  
  
Willow gave Tara an ‘are you kidding me’ look, so the blonde tried a different approach and slid her hand around her wife’s back.  
  
  
“C’mere, let me get that pesky underwear off you.”  
  
  
Willow let herself be turned so Tara could rid her of her bra but was still set in annoyance at herself until she felt a hand run down her side and looked up to see her wife gazing lustily down her body.   
  
  
She blushed as she thought of how wonderful it was that Tara could switch her from feeling close to a heifer to a sexy goddess with one look, and without even trying.  
  
  
She watched with ever-growing confidence as Tara’s eyes fell lower down her body, a hand following as the waistband of her panties was bunched up, then dragged down her legs. Willow aided their removal by kicking them off as they fell to her knees, then slowly smirked as Tara looked back up to her face.  
  
  
“You think I’m sexy…” she started to sing in a teasing tone, “You think I’m gorgeous…”  
  
  
Tara nodded along in agreement as Willow sang, grinning wildly. Willow bit her bottom lip and made a grab for Tara’s hips.  
  
  
“You want to kiss me…”  
  
  
“I want to kiss you…” Tara sang back, snaking her hand around the back of Willow’s necks and pulling their heads together to kiss her deeply.  
  
  
Willow moaned as Tara’s tongue started to tease her lips apart and tried to pull her wife’s body as flush against hers as her swollen stomach would allow until she felt the blonde pull away and heard a giggle.  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked with a smile, finding Tara’s laughter infectious.  
  
  
Tara moved a hand down the front of Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“It’s funny feeling your belly button as an outie.”  
  
  
Willow tried to self-consciously cover her stomach.  
  
  
“I hope it goes back in after the baby’s born.”  
  
  
“I’ll still think it’s cute. And it could be fun,” Tara replied, her top teeth flashing in a grin as she moved her stomach to Willow’s so the redhead’s belly button almost slotted in to hers, “Look, see.”  
  
  
Willow held back a snort as she looked down at their liked stomachs, then back to Tara.  
  
  
“This isn’t what I had in mind when you said to get inside you.”  
  
  
Tara began to move her fingers up Willow’s arms, lightly brushing them against her skin until she felt the redhead shiver.  
  
  
“What _did_ you have in mind?” she asked in a low, husky tone and watched Willow’s eyelids grow heavy with lust.  
  
  
Willow felt her breath quicken as Tara’s fingers started to dance down her chest and clutched the blonde’s hip.  
  
  
“It unnerves me sometimes how you’re able to flip a switch inside me so easily.”  
  
  
Tara leant down to trail a series of kisses along Willow’s jaw, towards her ear.  
  
  
“Well, let me calm those nerves.”  
  
  
Willow let out a low moan as Tara’s lips sank back down into her neck and moved towards her throat.  
  
  
“You are a vixeness, queen of all vixens.”  
  
  
Willow felt Tara smile against her skin.  
  
  
“Does that make you my prey?”  
  
  
Willow let out a low gasp as Tara licked from the base of her throat to her chin before teeth scraped over her pulse point.  
  
  
“Your willing prey.”  
  
  
She brought her hand over Tara’s buttocks and slowly took handfuls of her flesh while she twisted and turned her neck to accommodate her wife’s roaming mouth. Her hand became needier in its squeezing as a tongue descended onto her breasts and around her nipples until the tips of her fingers caught some of Tara’s arousal seeping out from the back of her thighs and couldn’t contain herself any longer.  
  
  
“By the way,” she whispered, bringing her hand around and between Tara’s legs, taking a moment to enjoy the soft feel of her downy curls before sliding into her wetness and inside her in one fluid movement, “This is what I had in mind.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her head against Willow’s chest and cried into it as the redhead guided her leg over her hip as she slipped a second finger inside. Willow heard a whimper before lips were crashing against her own.  
  
  
She felt Tara’s hands wrap around the back of her neck as her mouth was attacked with hungry kisses and the blonde’s hips moved speedily against her. She kept up with the quick pace, curling her fingers in response to her wife’s escaping moans and added a third when Tara bit down and pulled on her lower lip.  
  
  
She could feel Tara’s heart beating furiously as the blonde’s chest was thrust upon her and moved her spare hand to her wife’s head, entwining it in her hair so she could pull their mouths even closer together to accept all the love and desire Tara was offering to her; giving back all she could, all she possessed, until her wife’s lips stopped moving against hers and she felt her take a sharp intake of breath.  
  
  
She opened her eyes to watch a slow smile spread over Tara’s face and let out a sigh of satisfaction as she felt hot contractions around her fingers, digging them in as deep as she could until they died down and the blonde slumped against her.  
  
  
Willow loosened her hand in her wife’s hair and wrapped it around her shoulders, dropping a series of soft kisses on her head until Tara pulled her hips away and dropped her leg back to her side, raising her head until it was next to Willow’s on the pillow, her cheeks flushed and still breathless.  
  
  
“So what I got from that was: I’m amazing, and you’re proud of me.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and popped a quick kiss on her wife’s lips.  
  
  
“Yes. Very.”  
  
  
“Message received,” Tara murmured, bringing a hand up to tuck a piece of hair behind Willow’s ear as she leaned forwards to kiss her again.  
  
  
Willow enjoyed the sensation of being languidly kissed and moved her hand to Tara’s cheek, smiling against her wife’s lips as their noses nuzzled against each other until she felt herself starting to be turned.   
  
She let Tara move her until she were in a spooning position and let out a soft sigh as she felt the familiar body curve into her like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle fitting perfectly together; breasts crushing into her back and lingering wetness rubbing against her buttocks.  
  
  
She felt Tara’s hand move to her hip and her breath quickened as the blonde’s palm began to inch its way between her legs, stopping short at her mound to dance some fingertips against her curls.  
  
  
“Baby, please,” she breathed, bringing her own hand up to cover Tara’s and pushing it lower, “I need you.”  
  
  
Tara moaned in Willow’s ear as her fingers came in contact with her wife’s copious arousal and twirled them around to gather the wetness as the redhead’s hand fell away again. When her fingertips were suitably coated, she let them glide into her wife’s folds until she found the bump in her flesh she was looking for and rubbed them back and forth.  
  
  
Willow let out a low groan and started to circle her hips in the same pattern Tara was rubbing her, with just the right amount of force, giving her just the right amount of friction.  
  
  
“I like that.”  
  
  
“I know you do,” Tara replied, dragging her hand up and down, moving her hips in synch with Willow’s, “I know what else you like too…”  
  
  
Willow clutched the blanket in anticipation as she felt Tara’s hand fall from her, only to be replaced with her thumb and the gasp-inducing sensation of being filled with familiar, long fingers.   
  
  
“Tara…” she gasped, bearing down on the sweet intrusion and moaning when she felt a swelling of hot pleasure in her abdomen.  
  
  
She felt Tara’s head rest behind hers and her hand start to push deeper inside her as a tongue began to trace the curve of her ear. Her chest heaved in time with Tara’s thrusts; slow and steady and overwhelming her every sense.  
  
  
She relaxed back into Tara’s body and gave herself entirely over to her wife’s touch; feeling as if she was floating outside her body yet somehow very inside it at the same time, nothing but deep, radiating pleasure coursing through her.  
  
  
What could have been hours to Willow passed, lost in sensation and the echoing of her own cries against the walls, until her head suddenly jolted back as Tara hit against her sweet spot, inadvertently causing her gaze to lock with her wife’s.  
  
  
A smile spread across her face as she felt Tara shift her lower body slightly to get in a more comfortable position to keep their gazes locked before the steady thrusting in and out of her resumed.  
  
  
She felt a slight strain in her neck as it stretched behind herself, but wasn’t willing to stop staring into Tara’s shimmering blue eyes as she spiralled towards the abyss, her raging body a distinct contrast to the calm, serenity-filled love she was exchanging silently with her wife at that moment.  
  
  
“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered in awe as her eyelids began to flicker with the intensity of her impending orgasm, “Oh Tara.”  
  
  
Her head lolled forwards again as her body went rigid against Tara’s and she quietly rode out her release. Everything was still for several minutes, apart from her furiously beating heart, as she came down from her high until she felt Tara brush some of her hair to the side and place small kisses on her neck, interjected with faint whispers of ‘I love you’.  
  
  
She smiled as warmth filled her up inside, then outside as well as Tara covered them with the blanket and wrapped an arm protectively around her waist under it, while the other lay under her neck. Willow reached up to take that hand and snuggled back into her wife.  
  
  
“Love you more.”  
  
  
“Uh uh,” Tara shook her head slightly and continued to plant kisses on the redhead’s neck, “Not possible.”  
  
  
Willow turned her head just enough to catch Tara’s eye and smiled.  
  
  
“Call it a tie?”  
  
  
Tara pressed her lips against Willow’s lovingly for a few seconds before pulling away with a matching smile.  
  
  
“Okay.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow repeated with a giggle as she settled back into Tara’s arms.  
  
  
They lay in content silence for quite a while, long enough that Willow felt Tara’s kisses peter out and felt her steady breathing against her ear and assumed she had fallen asleep. She had almost succumbed to slumber herself but was drawn from the haze starting to cloud her mind when she heard quiet, almost inaudible words whispered in her ear.  
  
  
“Can I do it?”  
  
  
She opened her eyes, wondering if she’d imagined what she’d heard, it had been so quiet, but turned her head to see Tara looking at her, her eyes shining with a strange sense of fear she never saw in her wife. With a push of effort to move her body, she turned onto her back and reached a hand up to run the back of her fingers against her wife’s cheek, knowing it gave her comfort, which she could see she needed.  
  
  
“Can you do what?”  
  
  
Tara remained on her side, looking down at Willow and leaning into her touch.  
  
  
“The job?” she asked eventually, her tone still small and timid, “Can I take on all that responsibility? For all those kids?”  
  
  
Willow tapped her fingertips against Tara’s jaw and moved to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.  
  
  
“Of course you can.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her head slightly.  
  
  
“How do you know?”  
  
  
Willow guided Tara’s head up to look at her and smiled lovingly.  
  
  
“’Cause you’re my woman. And my woman can do anything.”   
  
  
Tara gave a small smile but it faltered after just a second as her brow again creased in worry.   
  
  
“How can you have such blind faith?”  
  
  
Willow visibly did a double-take, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she shook her head and cleared her throat. She took Tara's hand and cradled it between both of hers.  
  
  
“I remember our junior year in college, you went on your very first placement. And you were so scared, you didn’t sleep a wink the night before. But you went, and you did it, and you came back to our dorm that first day with the biggest smile on your face and you said ‘I know this is what I’m meant to do’. Do you remember that?”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes and managed a smile again, nodding to indicate she remembered; the initial joy of being on the job when she was still learning the ropes. When she opened her eyes again, Willow was still looking up at her with a warm smile.  
  
  
“I was there… when you got offered a job before we even graduated because your placement loved you so much. I was there when you took the licensing exam and aced it. Even though you almost missed it because you had to sit it the first week we moved into our apartment and we were still christening all the rooms.”  
  
  
Tara blushed, her face finally breaking out in a full-blown grin as Willow giggled.  
  
  
“It was the kitchen that morning, right?” she asked, sticking her tongue out between her teeth, “Breakfast of champions.”  
  
  
Tara blushed even more and dropped her eyes to try and stop the flush, before being pulled back up by the intensity of Willow’s loving gaze. Willow idly ran her hand down her wife’s arm and began to play with her fingers.  
  
  
“I was there when you started your very first day as a social worker, officially. I walked you to your office that morning and picked you up that evening and we went home and you told me how a nice colleague named Alice brought you on a home visit, first day and everything. And you told me that when you were there, you snuck off to talk to the daughter while Alice interviewed the parents and that you’d gotten that little girl to speak about how her father was abusing her, even though he’d been on the radar for months, but no one had been able to get anything concrete.”  
  
  
Tara felt like she was stabbed in the heart as she remembered what had become her very first case; the sorrow and agony that child had been subjected to, how she’d wanted to do everything to help her and how she’d learned more on a single day on the job than she had in her entire 4 years of college.  
  
  
Willow saw the flash of pain on her wife’s face and her fingers instantly went to Tara’s cheek again as she let out a soft sigh.  
  
  
“You felt that little girl’s pain so much. You cried for hours. Hours. And I held you. I was so worried that it wasn’t going to work out, that you couldn’t cope with that day after day, that your dream wasn’t going to come true. But then you looked up at me, and you were still crying, but you were smiling and you said, “I helped her. I really helped her.” And I knew then, that even though it might kill you sometimes, because you just care so damn much, that you were right what you’d said a couple of years before, this is what you were _meant to do_.”  
  
  
Tara felt a small lump of emotion rise in her throat as she finally understood why Willow was replaying all of those memories and inhaled deeply to quash it as her wife continued.  
  
  
“I was there every time a case brought out your own memories and your fears. I watched you channel all of that into helping each child with everything you had. I watched how much all your colleagues adored you at Christmas parties and I was there when they all sang your praises. More than one mentioned you were the most promising social worker they’d ever seen.”  
  
  
Tara felt Willow’s hand move down to her chest, her palm flattened above her left breast and the redhead’s voice started to break.  
  
  
“I was there when that beautiful heart you have in there brought our little boy home and I was there when _you_ convinced the judge to let us keep him. So don’t you think for a second you’re anything but extraordinary, Tara Rosenberg-Maclay. And I’m not saying that blind.”  
  
  
Tara felt her eyes well with tears but managed to keep them at bay until she felt Willow cup both her cheeks and pull her down for a tender but passion-filled kiss. Willow felt tears stream under her hands and gently wiped them away until Tara’s cheeks were dry again.  
  
  
She wrapped her arms around the back of Tara’s neck as their kiss slowed but didn’t lessen in intensity until they naturally pulled apart as their chests began to heave slightly.   
  
  
They stayed gazing at each other for a moment before Willow put one hand under Tara’s chin and pushed in so her lips puckered and deposited three short and sweet kisses directly on them.  
  
  
“You can do it.”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes and nodded to herself, taking a few deep breaths before reopening them, rid of all fear and worry and replaced with a fresh sense of confidence.  
  
  
“I can do it.”


	50. Chapter 50

Tara nervously sat in her desk chair and typed aimlessly in a document that wasn’t really for anything, but she had to keep up appearances for the next 20 minutes or so until her boss called her and the rest of the senior social workers in for the weekly meeting where her new title would officially come into being.   
  
  
She’d finished any last-minute adjustments to her case files already that morning and couldn’t start anything new until the meeting where she’d be assigned new cases and subordinates. She kept her head down and avoided eye contact with anyone else in the office so they wouldn’t notice how jumpy she was as she continued to type a standard home visit report, the words as natural to her as breathing after so many years typing them until a tap on her shoulder made her jump in alarm.  
  
  
“Sorry, ma’am,” a man in a matching beige shirt, pants and hat ensemble said as Tara swung around in her chair and watched him peer into the bouquet of daises he was holding, “Um, Tara Ro, um..Ros…”  
  
  
“Yes, that’s me,” Tara said, putting the fumbling man out of his misery only to have a hand-held electronic device shoved in her face for her to give her signature on.  
  
  
She picked up the digital pen hanging from the side and scrawled her named before exchanging the device for the flowers.  
  
  
“Have a good day,” the man said as her turned and walked the same direction he’d come in.  
  
  
Tara held the bouquet by the stems and admired the flowers, bursting with different hues of yellow and red and orange with some white thrown in for contrast. She didn’t need to check to see who they were from, only Willow knew how much she loved daisies, but sought out the small white card hidden amongst them anyway and smiled when she read the message.  
  
  
 _You’re my woman. And my woman can do…_  
  
  
“Anything,” she whispered to herself as she brought the flowers up to her face and inhaled their scent.  
  
  
“Secret admirer?” Alice’s voice came from the desk opposite and Tara looked over to see her friend grinning at her and twirling a pencil between two fingers.  
  
  
“Willow’s just being sweet,” Tara replied brushing her fingers over the petals before standing, “I’ll get them some water.”  
  
  
She tucked the bouquet under her arms and walked towards the break room, searching the cabinets until she found a glass long and wide enough to accommodate them. She half-filled the glass with water from the tap and set it on the counter as she arranged the daisies in it until a voice behind her made her jump in fright for the second time in a matter of minutes.  
  
  
“Ready for the meeting?”  
  
  
Tara turned to be met with her boss on the other side of the room, smiling at her as she retrieved a mug. She cleared her throat and nodded.  
  
  
“Yes. Yes, definitely. Sorry, I was just…Willow sent me flowers.”  
  
  
“They’re beautiful,” Steph replied, moving towards the near-full coffee pot in the corner, “She was happy about the news, I take it?”  
  
  
“Very,” Tara responded emphatically, “We’re both…very grateful.”  
  
  
Steph added the appropriate cream and sugar to her coffee before turning fully towards Tara, holding the mug between both hands.  
  
  
“I’m just grabbing a coffee to bring in with me. Why don’t you put your flowers back on your desk and meet me in there before everyone else starts to file in?”  
  
  
Tara took the glass and nodded eagerly.  
  
  
“I’ll be right in.”  
  
  
She hurried off out of the room and back to her desk, leaving her flowers down far enough in that they wouldn’t be knocked over, then ran her palms down the front of her pants before moving to leave again.  
  
  
“Where are you going?” she heard Alice ask from behind in confusion and spun around, fumbling over her words for a moment or two.  
  
  
“Over there,” she eventually said, pointing in a random direction and ignoring the strange look Alice gave her before rushing off again around the corner to the boardroom.   
  
  
The door was open and Steph was already in there, standing at the top of the table with a pile of case files in front of her. She gestured for Tara to come forward and smiled at her in reassurance when she saw her employee fidgeting slightly.  
  
  
“You’ve nothing to worry about, Tara. We’ll work out your team and your cases during the meeting, then I’ll bring them all in to inform them. You’ll probably want to meet with each of your team throughout the day, get a handle on who’s doing what cases and start to sort your schedule. You can have access to the boardroom all day if you need it.”  
  
  
Tara nodded gratefully.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
Steph shut the open file that was on top of the rest and reached out to put a hand on Tara’s shoulder as she saw her trying to hide her shaking hands in her pockets.  
  
  
“I’m not expecting you to be perfect your first day. If anything’s bothering you, come see me and we’ll sort it. You’ll do great. I believe in you. I wouldn’t have given you the job if I didn’t.”  
  
  
Tara inhaled a deep breath, then exhaled it slowly and gave a small smile.  
  
  
“Thank you. Again.”  
  
  
Steph patted Tara’s shoulder once before taking her hand back and motioning for Tara to sit. Two men came in a few minutes later and sat at the opposite end of the large table, staring at Tara strangely but didn’t make any comment, then a group of four women appeared the doorway; Alice and Michelle at the helm.  
  
  
Alice noticed Tara first and made a beeline for her, slipping into the chair beside her.  
  
  
“What are you doing here?” she hissed and Tara gulped but was saved as her boss began to speak.  
  
  
“Everyone here?” Steph asked, looking around to account for everyone as they took their seats and smiled around the room, “Hope you’re all having a good morning. Before we start, I have an announcement to make. Following Helen’s retirement last week, I have decided to promote in-house and Tara here will be taking over her position.”  
  
  
Alice’s eyes went wide and she punched Tara lightly in the arm.  
  
  
“Tara, you sly dog!”  
  
  
“That’s wonderful, dear,” Michelle piped up across from her.  
  
  
Tara looked around the table to see everyone smiling at her and offered one of her own back, feeling relieved that she was being accepted so easily despite her lessened experience than the rest of them.  
  
  
Steph began picking up some of the case files and organising them into piles.  
  
  
“We’ll be reviewing cases and teams this morning, maybe making some changes. But I’m sure you will all agree when I say to Tara, welcome on board.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara awkwardly tried to fish her key from her pocket and slot into the front door lock of the house as she tried to balance her bouquet of daisies in her arms while keeping a steady hold on the decorative vase filled with pink and white roses she’d picked up on her way home.  
  
  
She swerved her body as everything almost went crashing down as the key finally slid into the opening, then turned it to open the door as she stabilised herself again. She took her keys back and quickly pocketed them to leave both hands free and used her bodyweight to push the door open to the surprisingly quiet house.  
  
  
She waited for a moment, expecting JJ to come bursting out of whatever room he’d been in like he normally did when she arrived home after he did, then remembered he was probably still at a play date with another kid from school that had been arranged the week before.  
  
  
She listened to see if she could figure out where in the house Willow was, but couldn’t quite make out anything from anywhere in particular, so figured her wife was most likely taking a nap; something Willow was doing more and more often as the baby grew bigger.  
  
  
She left the daises on the small table by the door and left her keys onto the hook beside Willow’s, before quietly shutting the door again. She began to make her way towards the stairs, holding the vase in both hands as she ascended them and turned down the hallway to their bedroom.  
  
  
The sound of Willow’s voice became more distinctive as she neared the room and Tara wondered if her wife was on the phone until she got to the doorway and saw her lying on the bed in sweats and a t-shirt, with her t-shirt pulled up a little to reveal her belly, which is what the redhead was addressing.  
  
  
“So that’s when I fell in love with her, little bean. That first second, when our eyes met, I fell hopelessly in love with her. I mean, I didn’t know that’s what I was feeling. Except I kind of did. I just didn’t…well, it's hard to explain. But she took my breath away. She still does. Your Mommy’s an amazing woman.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her head against the doorframe and hung back so Willow wouldn’t see her, feeling her heart swell with emotion as she listened and grinning as her wife continued.  
  
  
“Even though she goes out of her way to make me blush sometimes,” Willow giggled, then sighed softly, “Don’t tell her, but I secretly love it. She makes me feel like a giggling schoolgirl, in the best possible way. She makes me feel like I’m wonderful. She looks at me sometimes and…I’m wonderful.”  
  
  
“You’re wonderful,” Tara whispered so faintly she wasn’t even sure she’d actually spoken it and watched as Willow rubbed her own stomach.  
  
  
“You’ll learn all this when you grow up, little one. When you find your soulmate. And I know we won’t always be perfect parents, but I can guarantee that you’ll always know what love is and how much we have for you.”  
  
  
Tara had to bring a hand up to wipe an errant tear from the side of her eye and was about to make her presence known when Willow started to speak again and she felt all the breath rush from her lungs.  
  
  
“We love you so much, little girl.”  
  
  
Willow had started to give her belly an affectionate squeeze but instead leapt up into a sitting position as she heard a loud smashing sound off to the side. She looked over to the doorway in alarm, first at the scattering of broken glass on the floor, flashes of pink and white with water seeping down the wooden floors, then up at her wife who was staring at her wide-eyed, but deathly still.  
  
  
“Tara!” she said in a panic, then started to gesticulate wildly when Tara stepped forward, “Baby, watch the glass!”  
  
  
There was a crunch as Tara ignored the warning and stepped on a piece of glass and a white rose, her boot grinding both into the floor. Her hands came up to cover her mouth and nose and she blinked repeatedly for several seconds before dropping them.  
  
  
“Girl?” she asked in disbelief.  
  
  
Willow was far too confused by the events of the last 60 seconds to comprehend what her wife was trying to say and looked to her at a loss.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
Tara’s hands went to her face again, shock evident all over her features as her brain processed what she’d heard and heard her own voice breaking as she spoke again.  
  
  
“We’re having a girl?”  
  
  
The cogs turned in Willow’s brain as she tried to make sense of all that was happening before finally recalling what she’d said right before she’d heard the crashing and figured it was exactly what Tara heard. Her face fell as she realised what she’d unintentionally revealed and she started to stammer over her words.  
  
  
“Y-You were supposed to be at work. I didn’t know you were at home.”  
  
  
Tara stepped over the next spattering of glass and sat on the edge of the bed next to Willow, grabbing her hands and squeezing them between her fingers.  
  
  
“Are we having a girl?”  
  
  
Willow looked torn as she contemplated how to answer; she’d vowed she wouldn’t reveal the sex of the baby to Tara and had threatened all of their family and friends that knew with ruined credit scores if they said anything; and they all knew better than to doubt her abilities when it came to a computer.   
  
  
But it was out there now, and it wasn’t something she could really deny. She looked at her wife apologetically and nodded.  
  
  
“Yes.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes shone with joy and she looked like she was struggling to even breathe for a moment before suddenly throwing her arms around Willow and squeezing her tight. Willow heard sniffling in her ear and tentatively closed the hug.  
  
  
“Tara, I’m so sorry.”  
  
  
She felt Tara cling to her for several moments before gentle kisses were being placed all over her face.  
  
  
“Why are you sorry?” Tara asked, tears freely flowing down her face as she brought her hands up to softly cup both of her wife’s cheeks and placed the gentlest of kisses on her lips, “We’re having a girl.”  
  
  
Willow searched Tara’s eyes and saw nothing but joy but still felt conflicted.  
  
  
“You wanted to be surprised.”  
  
  
“I was. I am. I…we’re having a girl,” Tara replied in an awe-filled, quiet tone, pressing her lips, wet from her tears against Willow’s again, before glancing off to the side at the mess on the floor, “I brought you flowers.”  
  
  
Willow looked over to the shards of glass glinting against the light from the bulb overhead, noticing from the first time the splash of colour from the roses and the gathering of water surrounding them that if they didn’t clean up soon she knew might start to ruin the finish, but she couldn’t bring herself to care because the look in Tara’s eyes, even with more than eleven years and innumerable ‘perfect’ moments together, was filled with more joy than she’d ever seen.  
  
  
Her gaze didn’t linger long on the broken vase, wanting to absorb every ounce of pure elation Tara was pouring from herself and offered her wife a small but warm smile.  
  
  
“They’re pretty.”  
  
  
Tara laughed then, a quiet giggle which turned into deep, raucous laughter as she grabbed Willow into a hug with enough force to push her back onto the bed. Willow found the laughter to be infectious and a giddy grin spread on her face as Tara made the mattress bounce with her excitement and began dropping kisses all over her face.  
  
  
Willow giggled as her wife’s brushing lips tickled her skin and gladly lifted her shirt again as Tara started to bounce down to the middle of the bed.  
  
  
“Hi little girl,” Tara whispered to Willow’s exposed stomach, leaning her cheek against it, “Hi little girl.”  
  
  
Willow stayed quiet as she let Tara have all the quality time she needed with her belly, moving to stroke her hair as her wife’s murmurings quietened to just kisses, though she could feel the never-ending smile plastered on the blonde’s lips as they caressed her skin.  
  
  
She curled the end strands of Tara’s hair around her fingers as her wife nuzzled against her before giving a soft sigh and calling down.  
  
  
“Are you sure you’re okay with knowing?”  
  
  
Willow felt Tara press her lips over her popped-out belly button before shimmying back up her body, leaving a long, lingering kiss against her cheek.  
  
  
“We have a daughter, Willow. I couldn’t be more okay.”  
  
  
Willow searched Tara’s eyes again for any sign of disappointment or regret but saw only wonder and delight. Her face broke out in a wide smile and she grabbed Tara’s hand, rubbing it over her belly, then brought it up to her cheek, holding it against her as she leant into it.  
  
  
“We have a daughter. You don’t know how long I wanted to share this moment with you.”  
  
  
Tara gently stroked Willow’s cheek with her thumb and pressed their lips together sweetly.  
  
  
“You should have said something. I would have found out with you if that’s what you really wanted.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head emphatically.  
  
  
“I never would’ve taken you wanting to be surprised away from you,” she replied, before looking down momentarily, “You know, on purpose.”  
  
  
Tara just smiled and left a string of soft kisses on Willow’s lips.  
  
  
“Worked out well for both of us,” she whispered as she continued to stroke her wife’s cheek, “I love you so much.”  
  
  
“I love you too,” Willow replied, turning her head into Tara’s hand to kiss her palm, before a giddy smile broke out on her face, “A little girl.”  
  
  
Tara nodded, her forehead against Willow’s.  
  
  
“Our little baby girl.”  
  
  
“Little dresses,” Willow gushed, revelling in being able to truly embrace the information she’d known for weeks but had been so careful to keep to herself.  
  
  
“Or pants,” Tara replied cheerily, beaming from ear-to-ear.  
  
  
“Or pants,” Willow giggled, “Whatever she wants.”  
  
  
They shared matching smiles for a few quiet moments before Tara pressed her lips against each of Willow’s eyelids with soft butterfly kisses, then against her nose. Willow scrunched up her nose in delight as Tara popped a small kiss against her lips and reached up to wipe some hair from her wife’s brow.  
  
  
“You’re happy?”  
  
  
“There aren’t words. Thank you,” Tara whispered, nuzzling her nose against Willow’s as she brought her hand down to her wife’s stomach, feeling a soft kick as it connected, “I feel you, baby girl.”  
  
  
“She loves her Mommy,” Willow commented and saw Tara’s smile widen even more, “I love her Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara kept her hand on Willow’s belly and moved her head to the same pillow so they were gazing at each other lovingly.  
  
  
“I love her Momma.”  
  
  
Willow just smiled and covered Tara’s hand on her stomach, squeezing lightly as her wife rubbed and enjoyed the sensation of the little girl inside her kicking in response every so often. Their eyes never left each other except for brief moments of closure when they’d meet for a soft kiss or would flutter down to watch their hands move over Willow’s stomach until the redhead’s head suddenly shot up and she started gesturing around herself with her hand.  
  
  
“Oh, oh! Work! How was work?”  
  
  
“It was good,” Tara replied softly, not lifting her gaze from the smile she was directing downwards, “The other seniors seemed happy to have me on board and my new team all seemed pleased to have me as their boss. It was just a lot of talking today, I’ll be able to get into the practicalities tomorrow.”  
  
  
“I told you you’d be a rock star,” Willow responded, putting a finger under Tara’s chin and raising her head to place a chaste kiss on her lips, “You’re the most kick-ass social worker in all of New York state.”  
  
  
Tara’s cheeks flushed lightly and she turned her hand in Willow’s to stroke her fingers.  
  
  
“I wouldn’t be anything if I didn’t know you believed in me,” she replied and saw Willow start to shake her head, so continued, “I’m serious. You’re my…absolute everything.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes softened and she smiled.  
  
  
“I know. And you’re mine. But you’re a rock star all on your own.”  
  
  
Tara brought their conjoined hands above them and gently tapped their fingertips together.  
  
  
“What would I without you?”  
  
  
Willow grinned and stuck her tongue out.  
  
  
“Carry your own baby.”  
  
  
Tara laughed loudly and bumped her hip against Willow’s.  
  
  
“Oh, I love you,” she replied cheerily, cupping Willow’s cheek and softly kissing her, before noticing the sky that was beginning to darken outside the window, “What time does JJ need to be picked up?”  
  
  
“Six,” Willow replied, bringing her wrist up to see her watch, “I didn’t realise it was getting so late.”  
  
  
Tara looked over Willow’s shoulder to the alarm clock and nodded.  
  
  
“I better go,” she said, rolling off the side of the bed and standing, “I’ll clean up the mess I made first.”  
  
  
Willow started to move into a sitting position, pushing herself up with her hands.  
  
  
“I can do that.”  
  
  
Tara pushed Willow’s shoulders back and shook her head with a grin.  
  
  
“No, no, no. You stay there. Rest and keep both my girls happy.”


	51. Chapter 51

  
Tara pressed the button on her set of keys to lock the car she’d just exited and walked towards the front door of the house, key ready to turn in the lock so she could open it. As soon as she stepped over the threshold, she found JJ wrapped around her leg, still in his pyjamas, though that wasn’t unusual, since it was normally midday before he ever got dressed on a Saturday morning, and it was still only in the late a.m.  
  
  
“Mommy, mommy!” he said as he jumped up and down, “Is it tomorrow yet?”  
  
  
Tara knelt down and dropped her purse on the floor, regretfully shaking her head at her son. She knew he was completely overcome with enthusiasm for his birthday party the next day and wanted it to come for him as much as he did.  
  
  
“One more sleep. Are you excited?”  
  
  
JJ nodded as he bounced.  
  
  
“Is there gonna be a magician?”  
  
  
Tara smiled a secretive smile; JJ had requested a magic show at his party, but they’d kept it from him that they’d actually managed to secure an entertainer. She put her hands on either of his shoulders and leaned toward him conspiringly.  
  
  
“You know birthdays are very special days. They’re filled with magic.”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes went wide in awe.  
  
  
“They are?”  
  
  
“Oh yeah,” Tara nodded exaggeratedly, “So if you really _really_ believe, anything could happen.”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes darted around as if he was thinking deeply, then gave a definitive nod.  
  
  
“I believe.”  
  
  
Tara winked at him and straightened up as she ruffled his hair.  
  
  
“Where’s your Momma? Is she still in bed?” she asked and got an answering nod, “Lazybones.”  
  
  
JJ covered his mouth with his hand and giggled before scurrying off in a beeline for the living room as he recognised the theme song of his favourite cartoon float in from the television. Tara smiled affectionately and moved towards the stairs, ascending them quietly.  
  
  
She then walked towards the bedroom, intending to wake her slumbering wife up with some soft kisses that she wouldn’t argue against turning into a light make-out session but her plans went out the window as she rounded the doorway and saw the room in a state of chaos, drawers opened with clothes everywhere and the sheets completely mangled on the bed while Willow was frantically crawling around on the floor.  
  
  
Tara rushed over and bent down beside her wife, putting a hand against the small of her back.  
  
  
“Honey, honey, what’s wrong?”  
  
  
“I-I lost my wedding ring,” Willow spluttered as she tried to get down low enough to peer under the bed, but the bump was preventing her from getting a good view, “It was on when I went to sleep, I know it, but it must’ve fallen off and I can’t find it and–”  
  
  
“Shush, shush, I have it, I have it,” Tara reassured, reaching into her front pocket and holding up the shining ring for Willow to see, “I took them to get cleaned this morning. I didn’t think you’d notice.”  
  
  
Willow’s shoulders visibly dropped in relief and she let out a shaky breath.  
  
  
“I haven’t taken it off it 6 and a half years, I noticed as soon as I woke up,” she replied, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, holding her head in her hands, “I feel naked without it.”  
  
  
Tara pushed herself up beside the redhead and reached for her hand, spreading her fingers out, then slipping the band over her ring finger, securing it at the base.  
  
  
“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.”  
  
  
Willow smiled as the words floated to her ears and felt a gentle warmth fill her chest.  
  
  
“That was the easiest vow renewal ever,” she remarked jokingly, sighing contentedly as she felt the familiar metal around her finger, then leant her head down to rest on Tara’s shoulder, “We should do that sometime.”  
  
  
“Renew our vows?” Tara asked, idly playing with Willow’s fingers.  
  
  
Willow nodded with an easy smile.  
  
  
“Maybe when the kids are old enough to be a part of it.”  
  
  
Tara smiled at that idea and quietly slipped from the bed, walking over to the dresser where two mahogany jewellery boxes sat beside each other. She opened the one on the left, the one which housed Willow’s collection of jewellery, and found the small white-gold, diamond-topped ring tucked away in the side, matching exactly the second ring sitting on her own ring finger.  
  
  
She turned back to Willow, who was looking at her expectantly, and promptly got down on one knee, holding the engagement ring up and taking her wife’s hand.  
  
  
“On our…20th anniversary, Willow Rosenberg-Maclay, will you marry me again?”  
  
  
Willow beamed and nodded.  
  
  
“Of course I will,” she replied, grinning from ear-to-ear, “You know that means you have to stick around for the next 9 years.”  
  
  
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Tara replied, straightening up and twirling the ring in her hand between her fingers, “I won’t put it on you; I know you don’t like wearing it.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes went to her engagement ring with a look almost akin to disdain and her voice lowered an octave as she spoke.  
  
  
“I don’t know why you even wear yours.”  
  
  
Tara looked bewildered at her wife’s statement and gave a small laugh.  
  
  
“Because you proposed to me with it? It’s one of the most precious things I own.”  
  
  
Willow scoffed and shook her head.  
  
  
“It cost 60 bucks from an online store that didn’t even have many reviews. I don’t even know that it’s real white gold. Definitely not a real diamond.”  
  
  
Tara’s blinked a few times in surprise for a few moments before frowning, sitting beside Willow again and toyed with her own engagement ring.  
  
  
“I don’t care if you won it in a vending machine outside a supermarket. You asked me to marry you with this. It’s perfect to me.”  
  
  
Willow set her jaw and looked away from Tara. She hadn’t meant to come out with what she had, but her emotions had bubbled over.  
  
  
“I promised I’d get you a nice ring, and I did. I don’t know why you want a reminder of how I couldn’t provide for us every time you look at your hand.”  
  
  
Tara’s mouth hung open in shock and she pocketed Willow’s engagement ring so she could take both of her wife’s hands in hers.  
  
  
“Have you felt this way all these years?” she asked in disbelief and got only silence in response, which spoke volumes to her, “Do you think that little of me that that’s what you think I think about?  
  
  
Willow started to frantically shake her head and went to speak, but Tara continued before she had a chance.  
  
  
“I look at my hand and I see all the years you shared everything you had with me. I see the love and devotion and trust and affection you always gave to me so freely. I see how we were barely able to afford our heating bill, but you still took every spare cent you had to get me this beautiful ring. I see the night you asked me to be yours forever. What I definitely don’t see is some…cheap knock-off that you seem to be under the impression this is. ”  
  
  
Willow shut her eyes tight as she took in everything her wife was saying and tried to hold back tears as a fresh burst of emotion surged through her and she realised all at once just how wrongly she’d been judging the whole situation for so long.  
  
  
“I’m…a huge dummy.”  
  
  
She felt Tara’s arms wrap around her back and a hand guide her head down to her wife’s chest, a loving kiss dropped against her hair.  
  
  
“Well, not for feeling the way you do. For carrying it around for so long without telling me, yes.”  
  
  
Willow blinked away the few errant tears that had formed and enjoyed the comfort of Tara holding her and softly stroking her back for several long moments before pulling away and holding her hand up in offering.  
  
  
Tara smiled at the gesture but softly shook her head.  
  
  
“Don’t wear it just because I do.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head as well, in indication that that wasn’t what she was doing and wiggled her ring finger insistently.  
  
  
“I want to see those things too. I do see them. Now.”  
  
  
Tara's smile and widened and she slipped the ring down above the wedding band. Willow felt a tingle go down her spine as it rested above her wedding band and smiled softly.  
  
  
“It feels as wonderful as the first time you put it on me,” she said, holding her hand up and bringing it up to her face, lightly kissing the ring, then holding her hand out to address it in a mock-formal tone, “I’m so sorry you haven’t been appreciated the way you should have been.”  
  
  
“It won’t talk back to you, you know,” Tara grinned and saw Willow grin back. She took the redhead’s hand and gave it a light squeeze, “Well, I’m sorry I sent you into a fluster but I’m glad we got to talk about this.”  
  
  
Willow nodded gently.  
  
  
“Me too.”  
  
  
Tara brought her spare hand up and cupped Willow’s cheek, looking down into her eyes.  
  
  
“Harbouring any more resentments about anything?”  
  
  
Willow giggled and shook her head.  
  
  
“Not off the top of my head.”  
  
  
“You’ll tell me?” Tara asked and got a sincere nod.  
  
  
“Promise,” Willow pledged, holding her pinky finger up.  
  
  
Tara linked her pinky with Willow’s and used her grip to pull her in for a kiss. She entwined their fingers together and felt Willow smile against her as their rings clinked together with a low ‘ding’. She lingered for another few moments before pulling back.  
  
  
“Why don’t I run you bath and make us some French toast for brunch?”  
  
  
Willow brought their hands up near her face and pretended to examine her ring for a moment, then grinned back at Tara.  
  
  
“I see my perfect woman.”  
  
  
“I see flattery getting you everywhere,” Tara grinned back, “Strawberries or blueberries?”  
  
  
“Both?” Willow asked hopefully, “With some honey?”  
  
  
“You got it,” Tara replied, pressing a quick kiss against Willow’s temple before standing.  
  
  
Their hands parted and Willow gestured around the chaotic room.  
  
  
“I’ll um…tidy up my freak-out.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara replied with a small laugh as she walked from the room towards the bathroom.  
  
  
She quietly filled the tub with warm water and added a capful of bubble bath so the bubbles started to form on top of the water. She turned the taps off when the bath was full and dipped her hand in to swirl the water for a moment before quickly drying it against the towel, and making her way back down the hallway.  
  
  
She popped her head around the door to their bedroom and saw the floor had been renewed to its previous clear state, drawers were closed once again and Willow was just tucking the sheet in to make the bed.  
  
  
“Bath’s ready.”  
  
  
Willow straightened up from the bed and blew a kiss towards her wife. Tara pretended to catch it and held it against her heart before throwing a wink in Willow’s direction and leaving again, hearing her wife’s laughter behind her.  
  
  
She leisurely strolled down the stairs and went towards the living room, where JJ was sitting about a foot away from the television, on his knees, bouncing back and forth. He looked towards the doorway as Tara approached and she smiled at him.  
  
  
“I’m making French toast. Would you like some?”  
  
  
JJ’s brow furrowed.  
  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
  
“Well,” Tara began to explain, “I mix some bread in with some eggs and cook it.”  
  
  
JJ scratched behind his ear as he thought about that combo, before decidedly shaking his head.  
  
  
“Can I just have regular toast with honey?”  
  
  
“Sure,” Tara replied with a nod, “You're definitely your Momma's boy. Sit back from the TV please.”  
  
  
JJ let his legs slide out from under him and pushed himself further back. Once Tara was satisfied her son wasn’t risking any damage to his eyesight, she continued on to the kitchen and started gathering what she needed to make brunch.  
  
  
She made and delivered JJ his toast and honey as she left the bread to soak in the beaten egg mix before going back to place it on the griddle. She gently poked and turned the sizzling bread over until it was a crispy brown either side and transferred it over to a plate. She found the jar of honey in the back of the cabinet and drizzled some along the bread, before going to the refrigerator and retrieving the bowl of berries from the back.  
  
  
She had just taken a handful and was scattering them over the plate when she a heard a voice from the doorway.  
  
  
“That smells like it’s going to be heaven in my mouth.”  
  
  
Tara picked up the plate and spun around with it in hand, smiling at Willow, her hair hanging loosely over her shoulders, still wet, and wearing her maternity jeans and a green blouse.  
  
  
“We’ll need a deciding taste test.”  
  
  
Willow keenly moved forward as she looked at the colourful, glossy treat awaiting her.  
  
  
“Oh, well, if you need a tester…”  
  
  
Tara grinned and stepped forwards to leave it on the island.  
  
  
“Bon appétit, mon amore.”  
  
  
Willow all but bounced over and let the sweet scent waft in through her nostrils with a smile of anticipation before she turned to Tara and put her hands on her wife’s shoulders, idly patting down her arms.  
  
  
“Hey, if we’re, ah, Frenching it up anyway…”  
  
  
She trailed off hopefully as she entwined their fingers together and watched as Tara gave her the special smile that was reserved just for her before leaning down to kiss her. Willow pulled Tara’s arms so they wrapped around her waist and let her own navigate their way around her wife’s neck as a warm tongue teased between her lips and slid into her mouth.  
  
  
She pushed herself onto her tippy toes just slightly to accommodate the extra room between them from the bump and lightly stroked the back of Tara’s neck until they naturally pulled apart and her shoulders slumped with a content sigh.  
  
  
“Mmhh, the perfect aperitif for…” she trailed off and gestured towards the island, “How do you say breakfast?”  
  
  
“Le petit déjeuner,” Tara answered with perfect accent and Willow looked contemplative for a moment before giving a resolute nod.  
  
  
“I’ll just stick with breakfast.”  
  
  
Tara laughed, scrunching up her nose in the process and dropped her hand to take a quick squeeze of Willow’s behind.  
  
  
“I’ll go check the mail,” she said as she moved off and made her way out of the kitchen, “Save me some.”  
  
  
“Can’t make any promises,” Willow called back as she pushed herself onto a stool and eagerly picked up her knife and fork so she could begin to dig in.  
  
  
She cut a square from the corner of the French toast and speared some berries with it onto her fork. She dropped the fluffy, sweet mix onto her tongue and gave a slow moan of appreciation as the flavours danced on her tastebuds until she heard the door bag shut again and looked over her shoulder as Tara reappeared, shuffling some envelopes.  
  
  
“Anything good?” she asked through a mouthful.  
  
  
“Cable and telephone. I’ll take care of them,” Tara answered as she made her way back to the island and left the respective bills down to attend to later before giving the last envelope in her hand a curious look, “Huh.”  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked, still muffled by a fresh bite of her food.  
  
  
“Nothing,” Tara replied, an enquiring smile on her face as she turned the letter around, “Letter for you. Willow _Rosenberg_.”  
  
  
It took Willow a moment to register why Tara put emphasis on her surname before realising it was missing a critical end part.  
  
  
“Just Rosenberg?” she asked, dropping her cutlery and reaching for the letter, and looked strangely at the address label, which appeared to be covering more than one other label, “I’ve never gotten a letter here for just Rosenberg. We were married when we moved.”  
  
  
Tara crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
  
“Well whoever’s sending you a letter clearly doesn’t know you’re married. Who are you not sharing me with?” she asked with a mock-stern glare but dropped her arms and went over to put a hand on her wife’s shoulder when she saw Willow pale, “I’m only playing, honey, I know you’re not hiding me.”  
  
  
Willow stayed silent and Tara could almost feel her teeth clenched by the tension in her shoulders before eventually holding the envelope up with shaking hands and pointing to the corner.  
  
  
“It’s a…it’s a Sunnydale postmark.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyebrows rose in surprise, recognising the name of her wife’s not-often-talked-about hometown before noticing some red lettering pressed against the white of the envelope from a stamp.  
  
  
“It’s from your school, sweetie, look.”  
  
  
Willow seemed to relax slightly that she at least knew where the letter was coming from, but her hands continued to shake.  
  
  
“How do they know our address?”  
  
  
“Didn’t you do a mail forwarding thing when you went to college?” Tara offered by way of explanation.  
  
  
“Yeah,” Willow answered, then shook her head, “To Boston.”  
  
  
Tara squeezed her wife’s shoulder again.  
  
  
“Which we got forwarded here when we moved.”  
  
  
Willow nodded quietly at the explanation.  
  
  
“Explains the labels,” she mused almost to herself before turning the envelope over in her hands, “Guess I should open it.”  
  
  
Tara stayed in place as Willow ripped the top of the envelope but looked away to give her some privacy before hearing her wife’s surprised voice pipe up.  
  
  
“Oh. It’s an invitation for a high school reunion.”  
  
  
Tara looked back down and frowned slightly in confusion.  
  
  
“A…13 year high school reunion?”  
  
  
“Sunnydale never did anything by normal standards,” Willow muttered as her eyes scanned the paper, “Uh it says here… ‘We are delighted to finally be able to hold the reunions of the years missed in the newly reopened Sunnydale High.’ Newly reopened?”  
  
  
She dropped the letter on the island and pushed herself off the stool, scurrying out of the room. Tara picked up the letter and started to read it as Willow returned moments later with her laptop, clicking away at the keys before suddenly exclaiming loudly.  
  
  
“Someone blew up the school?!?”  
  
  
Tara looked over to her wife and blinked a few times in quick succession.  
  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head in disbelief and scrolled along the news report she was reading.  
  
  
“It says a girl and her group of friends all suffering from a delusional breakdown blew up the school to stop a…snake man? This makes no sense,” she said with an exasperated sigh before leaning back, Tara’s hand keeping her steady, “Jeez, I thought bitchy cheerleaders were bad.”  
  
  
Tara peered over Willow’s shoulder to read the article.  
  
  
“Those poor kids must have had serious issues.”  
  
  
“Yeah, no kidding,” Willow scoffed, shutting her laptop and pushing it off to the side as she picked up her fork again and idly pushed some berries around the plate, but didn’t pick any up.  
  
  
Tara moved to the stool beside Willow and rubbed her lower back.  
  
  
“Do you want to go?”  
  
  
Willow’s brow furrowed and she seemed to be deeply examining a blueberry.  
  
  
“I, I mean it’s all the way in California.”  
  
  
Tara’s hand moved around to Willow’s hip and gave it a squeeze.  
  
  
“If you want to go, Willow, we’ll go. If you don’t, we won’t.”  
  
  
“We didn’t go to yours,” Willow replied, almost defensively.  
  
  
Tara inhaled deeply for a few moments. She hadn’t gone, or received an invite to any high school reunions from her school, but she would have been surprised if even the school itself remembered her name, she worked hard not to make an impression so no one would ask questions, never mind the fact they had no idea where she lived.  
  
  
“I didn’t get an invitation.”  
  
  
She watched the confliction and confusion washed on her wife’s face and continued to rub her back in comfort for a minute before she brought her hand up and tapped her fingertips against the back of Willow’s neck, tickling her.  
  
  
“Why don’t you show those bitchy cheerleaders how you landed a sexy broad?”  
  
  
Willow giggled and tilted her neck to try and stop Tara’s hand before turning to her wife, still smiling but her eyes flashing with seriousness.  
  
  
“You’ll come with me?”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“Of course, Willow. I’m not letting my 6 and half months pregnant wife on a plane by herself.”  
  
  
Willow instantly perked up at that and smiled widely, momentarily forgetting about the letter that had sent her mind into a tailspin.  
  
  
“Oh! Plane! That reminds me, I had an idea for our vacation,” she said cheerily, clapping her hands together, “Boston. We could take JJ to the beach, and show him where we used to live and we always said we’d go back and visit.”  
  
  
Tara was momentarily silent as she processed the change from the serious conversation, but knew Willow hadn’t just dropped it, so decided to deal with it one step at a time.  
  
  
“I’d love to visit Boston.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small smile and nodded, turning back to her food and finally putting some from fork to mouth.  
  
  
“Guess I’ll book both sets of tickets this week.”  
  
  
An easy smile formed on Tara’s face and she moved her hand up to twirl the ends of Willow’s hair between her fingers.  
  
  
“You want to go to Sunnydale?”  
  
  
Willow leant her head down on Tara’s shoulder and nodded, holding up her fork in a gesture of victory.  
  
  
“For high school nerds everywhere. I’ll show them we really can come out on top.”


	52. Chapter 52

  
“Oh, be careful!” Tara called after a group of three boys who ran past her like a rush of wind and almost made her knock the bowl of green Jell-O in her hands.  
  
  
She was carrying the bowl over to the large table of sugary delights set up in the backyard of their house, right beside the inflated moon bounce that at least seven children were bouncing on and near the near the corner where even more kids were taking advantage of the bubble station that was set up, jumping and trying to catch them as they were sent up into the stratosphere.  
  
  
She managed to set the bowl down next to the Rice Krispie treats and left an oversized spoon in it for serving, then felt a hand come to rest on the small of her back.  
  
  
“When he’s a teenager, and slamming doors, and screaming how much he hates us, at least we’ll be able to say, hey, we threw you a kick-ass 6th birthday party,” Willow’s voice came as she reached past Tara for a handful of jellybeans.  
  
  
“Kick- _butt_ ,” Tara replied, looking over to her wife with a pointed glance to the children around them, “And he should know better than to slam doors or scream in this house.”  
  
  
Willow nodded as she threw another mouthful of jellybeans into her mouth.  
  
  
“I’m sure he will.”   
  
  
Tara prodded the Jell-O with the spoon to make sure it was still at maximum wobbling potential before turning fully to her wife.  
  
  
“Are you going to give my little girl any greens today?” she asked and saw Willow grin and hold up a green jellybean, “Very funny.”  
  
  
“Lighten up, it’s a party,” Willow giggled, grabbing a rice krispie treat and shoving it in Tara’s mouth, “Here.”  
  
  
Tara made a quiet choking noise and instinctively bit down on the sticky square, taking the other half from her mouth. She silently chewed until she’d swallowed enough to be able to speak and wiped the side of her mouth.  
  
  
“Even funnier,” she said as she wrapped the uneaten part of the rice krispie treat in a napkin before her brow suddenly furrowed, “I forgot the paper plates.”  
  
  
“I’ll get ‘em,” Willow responded quickly, lifting the camera she had on a strap around her neck and handing it over, “Take some pictures.”  
  
  
She dropped the camera into Tara’s hands and turned to walk back in through the sliding glass doors to the kitchen, where her father was sitting on a stool, lightly massaging his temple.  
  
  
“Hi dad.”  
  
  
Ira straightened up in his seat and smiled over at his daughter.  
  
  
“Hello, Willow. Just taking a small break from all the screaming.”  
  
  
“Yea, they’re a loud lot,” Willow replied with a laugh as she walked over to the counter and started looking around, “Where did she put those damn plates?”  
  
  
Ira watched Willow lift various objects in her quest before noticed a stack of white paper plates on the side of the island.  
  
  
“These?” he asked, picking them up.  
  
  
Willow spun around and nodded, a look of relief on her face.  
  
  
“Thanks. She’s so stressed out.”  
  
  
“Tara?” Ira questioned and got an answering nod, “Well, being solely responsible for 30 children’s happiness all at once is a tall order; it brings quite a lot of pressure.”  
  
  
Willow frowned and bent the plates back and forth.  
  
  
“She’s not solely responsible. I’m here. She hasn’t let me do anything; she made all the food, blew up all the balloons, set up the whole backyard.”  
  
  
“Why do you think that is?” Ira replied softly with a smile towards Willow’s belly, “She’s just taking care of her girls.”  
  
  
Willow looked down at her bump and rested a hand on top before giving a soft smile.  
  
  
“What are we gonna do with your Mommy?” she asked her stomach with a gentle shake of her head before looking back to her father, “So, um…I got a letter yesterday. About…my high school reunion. It’s next weekend apparently. Hey, did you know some crazy kids tried to blow the school up?”  
  
  
Ira’s eyebrows rose for a moment as he clasped his hands together in front of him on top of the island.  
  
  
“Actually yes, I do recall one of my former work colleagues from the California offices mentioning it a few years ago. His son received a nasty head wound, I believe. Quite a tragedy all around.”  
  
  
Willow let out an elongated breath.  
  
  
“Town’s gone completely loco in my absence.”  
  
  
Ira nodded in agreement, then reached to cover one of Willow’s hands.  
  
  
“Are you going? To your reunion?”  
  
  
Willow looked down and gave a small shrug.  
  
  
“I think so. I was going to book the tickets yesterday, but then I thought I should wait for the weekend to be over to decide,” she said in a rush before lifting her gaze to meet her father’s, “But I think so. I mean, it’s different now. I’m…different.”  
  
  
Ira smiled and gave Willow’s hand an affectionate squeeze before taking his arm back.  
  
  
“Well you certainly have plenty to boast about. Beautiful home and family. Working for the FBI, no less.”  
  
  
Willow chuckled.  
  
  
“If that doesn’t show Cordelia Chase I’m not a dork anymore I don’t know what will.”  
  
  
“She made your life rather unpleasant, didn’t she?” Ira asked with a sigh.  
  
  
Willow rolled her eyes to herself slightly.  
  
  
“One of the many.”  
  
  
Ira’s eyes filled with regret.  
  
  
“I’m so sorry your mother and I didn’t help much. At all.”  
  
  
Willow quickly shook her head.  
  
  
“Hey, it’s…it’s okay. I’m…it’s okay,” she said resolutely, “And you’re right, I’ve got a lot to show for myself.”  
  
  
“You certainly do,” Ira replied before taking a deep breath, “Willow, I don’t have any contact with your mother anymore, all I know is she cashes the alimony cheques, but if you’d like to see her, I’ll do whatever I can to help.”  
  
  
A look of abject horror fell on Willow’s face and she shook her hands in front of her frantically.  
  
  
“No, no, no. No, that’s not what I was…no. Facing Cordelia is enough for one weekend.”  
  
  
Ira accepted that with a reassuring nod.  
  
  
“We’d be more than happy to take JJ for the weekend.”  
  
  
Willow let out a breath of relief and ran a hand down the side of her pants to calm herself.  
  
  
“Thanks, Dad,” she replied and managed a smile again,” I, um, I think it might be good, actually. I’ve grown so much since then. It would be really…good to walk down those halls and not feel like a loser.”  
  
  
“A cathartic experience I’m sure,” Ira responded kindly, then looked at his daughter seriously, “You were never a ‘loser’, Willow. Anyone who made you feel like that, they were the ‘losers’. Including myself.”  
  
  
“Stop that,” Willow said with a stern glare before her features softened, “You know, we have the same problem. Tara says I can never forgive myself, even when she’s forgiven me for something. But the issue is never really resolved unless you can both move past it.”  
  
  
Ira's eyes were filled with vulnerable anguish.  
  
  
“I’ll always regret how little I was there for you, and how cruelly we treated you when you shared you were.”  
  
  
Willow looked down momentarily and clenched her back teeth as she too felt a wave of sadness; she figured she always would, the hurt from the past was just too great for her to ever forget. But it was something she had moved past years ago, and it wasn’t something she’d let taint her relationship with her father now, so as ever, she focused on the bigger picture.  
  
  
“Everything in my life lead me to be right here,” she said, looking up to her father and smiled a sweet smile, “Would you want me to be anywhere else but right here? I wouldn’t. I have everything. A beautiful wife who worships the ground I walk on, and vice versa. The sweetest little boy with the cutest little smile that I’d do anything for. A baby girl who’s going to arrive in two months and turn my life upside down in the best possible way. So many wonderful friends, a father, grandparents for my children. My own home, a job I love. There’s so much love in my life. Be happy that you’re a part of it, not sad about things that happened and we can’t change.”  
  
  
Ira gave a small smile.  
  
  
“I am.”  
  
  
Willow smiled back and held out her arms.  
  
  
“You might not be able to get your arms around me, but you can try.”  
  
  
Ira’s smiled widened and he stood to embrace his daughter. Willow closed it as best she could with her bump between them and rested her chin on her father’s shoulder, closing her eyes until she heard the sound of a sliding door and her wife’s voice.  
  
  
“Willow, did you find the…” Tara trailed off and stopped in her tracks as the door slid shut behind her, “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.”   
  
  
Ira pulled away from the hug, but kept a hand around Willow’s shoulder and smiled.  
  
  
“You’re not.”  
  
  
Willow gave her wife a reassuring look and held out the bunch of paper plates.  
  
  
“We were just talking about Sunnydale.”  
  
  
“Yes,” Ira nodded, dropping his arm by his side and looking to Willow, “You must to take her to Modena.”  
  
  
“I think that’s slightly out of our travel path,” Tara said with a furrowed brow as she moved forwards and stood beside Willow, a hand on her shoulder.  
  
  
“It’s a restaurant,” Willow laughed, “Best porcini mushroom ravioli in the whole state.”  
  
  
“Oh, I’ll have to try it,” Tara replied pleasantly before a ringing sound from the doorbell grabbed her attention, “That should be the magician. Will you take the plates out to the table?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow replied with a resolute nod, “I will not get waylaid this time, promise.”  
  
  
Tara dropped a kiss on Willow’s cheek before she started to leave the room and walked across the foyer to the front door. She opened the door to see a man in a black and white pants/vest/shirt ensemble with a top hat and black cape wrapped around his neck that left no question in Tara’s mind who he was. She extended her hand in his direction.  
  
  
“Hi. I’m Tara, we spoke on the phone.”  
  
  
The man reached as if he was going to shake her hand, then did a quick movement and a flower appeared instead.  
  
  
“Dan the Magic Man.”  
  
  
Tara took the flower and twirled it with a laugh.  
  
  
“My son will love you.”  
  
  
‘Dan the Magic Man’ smiled a little and dropped the pretence of the act for a moment.  
  
  
“Where’s the party?”  
  
  
Tara gestured over her shoulder.  
  
  
“In the backyard.”  
  
  
The magician nodded and tried to strain his neck back to look around the outside of the house.  
  
  
“Is there a separate entrance?”  
  
  
“Sure,” Tara replied, somewhat confused, but going along with it as she stepped out and brought him around to the side of the house, “There’s a gate just around here. It’s open.”  
  
  
The magician started to move back down the driveway.  
  
  
“I’ll just get a few props from my car.”  
  
  
Tara nodded and smiled.  
  
  
“Okay. Well, I’ll leave you to it.”  
  
  
She walked back into the house and into the backyard through the sliding doors again, dodging some scurrying tiny humans as she made her way back across to where Willow was standing, her hand once again deep in the jellybean bowl.  
  
  
“You will turn into a jellybean,” she said as she put her hand on the small of her wife’s back.  
  
  
“Will you still eat me up?” Willow murmured with a giggle as she turned around to face the blonde, “Hey, where’d you get the flower?”  
  
  
Tara grinned and twirled it between her fingers.  
  
  
“It magically appeared.”  
  
  
Willow’s brow furrowed and her jaw set slightly.  
  
  
“A daisy. I thought only I knew your favourite flower,” she said with more than a hint of obvious displeasure before trying to look off to the side in nonchalance, “I mean, not that it’s a big thing. Just a flower. I just…I thought that that was something we only shared with each other.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife a wry grin and shook her head.  
  
  
“Coincidence.”  
  
  
Tara saw the side of Willow’s tongue poke into her cheek, a gesture indicative that the redhead was annoyed.  
  
  
“It’s just a flower Willow, not a marriage proposal,” she said in a reasonable tone before bending the end of the stem back and tucking the flower behind her wife’s ear, “There.”  
  
  
Willow glanced over at the orangey hue hitting her peripheral vision   
  
  
“Okay,” she giggled and got a warm smile in return before noticing her wife begin to look over nervously at where JJ was jumping up and down on the moon bounce. She stood halfway behind the blonde and put a hand on either of her shoulders and started to deeply massage them, “Why are you stressing?”  
  
  
Tara sighed and didn’t take her eyes off her bouncing and giggling son.  
  
  
“I want him to have a good time. Things will be very different his next birthday. I want him to have a day that is 100% all about him, all fun, all the time.”  
  
  
“Does that look like a boy who isn’t having 100% fun?” Willow asked and waited a moment for Tara to turn to her and shake her head with a smile, “Relax. Our son is only going to turn 6 once.”  
  
  
Tara looked back to JJ again, smiling this time, and Willow pressed her lips against her wife’s cheek in a lingering kiss before she felt a petal from the flower tickle the side of the ear and remembered the source.  
  
  
“Hey, where’s the mag–”  
  
  
She was cut off, jumping back in fright as a loud bang rang through her ears and she looked over to the direction of the back gate where smoke was billowing upwards and someone was emerging from.  
  
  
“Dan the Magic Man,” Tara whispered to Willow with a grin and watched as all the children began to rush and gather around him in awe.  
  
  
“Dan the Scaring-The-Crap-Out-Of-Me Man more like,” Willow mumbled, holding a hand against her furiously beating heart.  
  
  
Tara moved behind Willow and wrapped her arms around her waist from behind.  
  
  
“C’mere, I’ll keep you safe.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly and leant back into Tara’s arms, unable to hide a huge grin as she watched her son slap both his cheeks in shock as a walking stick disappeared before his eyes.  
  
  
The rest of the adults gathered near Willow and Tara as the children sat in rapture around the magician, gasping and screaming in joy and surprise at the illusions. The women chatted amongst themselves but the men all had their eyes keenly on the magician as well, all but getting down to sit on their knees in the grass amongst the children.  
  
  
“How is he doing that?” Jesse asked in disbelief as he watched a pen pushed through a dollar bill repeatedly only for the magician to pull the bill back into perfect shape.  
  
  
“He should be careful, he’s potentially ruining a perfectly good dollar bill,” Anya added, shaking her head in the magician’s direction.  
  
  
“It’s just the way he’s moving his hands,” Willow interjected, “The pen isn’t actually going through the bill, it just looks that way. Like a fancy ‘I’ve got your nose’.”  
  
  
Jesse turned to Willow and scowled at her.  
  
  
“Damn, Willow, ruin the illusion.”  
  
  
“You asked!” Willow responded defensively.  
  
  
Jesse rolled his eyes like a petulant child.  
  
  
“Yeah, you gonna tell your kids there’s no Santa when they ask too?”  
  
  
Alice harshly dug her elbow into Jesse’s side then and hissed.  
  
  
“Keep your voice down!”  
  
  
Jesse had the decency to look regretful at that and looked around to make sure no one under the age of 7 had heard him, but they were all too preoccupied with watching the magician ‘magically’ pull a string of multi-coloured ribbons out from JJ’s ear.  
  
  
“Let me guess, hand movement too?” he murmured to Willow, but she only had a chance to give him a half-second glare as she suddenly felt a swift kick against her bladder and fell forwards slightly.  
  
  
Tara pulled her back and kept her steady as she brought a hand to Willow’s stomach with a fond smile as she felt another, less intense movement against her palm.  
  
  
“She’s kicking.”  
  
  
Both Alice and Xander’s head shot towards Tara; Alice’s eyes wide and Xander spluttering on the beer he had just taken a sip from.  
  
  
“She?!” they both exclaimed in surprise.  
  
  
“Oh, right,” Tara replied apologetically but with a smile, “It’s a girl.”  
  
  
The adults all remained in a state of surprised silence until Becky finally spoke with an exasperated sigh towards Willow.  
  
  
“You blabbed?!”  
  
  
“No!” Willow defended herself before frowning, “Well not on purpose.”  
  
  
“She didn’t know I was in the house,” Tara added in support, “And I couldn’t be happier.”  
  
  
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Alice said to Tara with a wide smile.  
  
  
Tara smiled apologetically and rubbed her hand over Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“Sorry, I was kinda of caught up.”  
  
  
“Congratulations,” Alice replied warmly, “So have you thought of any names?”  
  
  
“I’ve always liked Alexandra,” Xander interjected.  
  
  
“I’m sure,” Willow scoffed before turning her head towards Tara, “We haven’t talked about it, yet. We should.”  
  
  
“We will,” Tara replied, leaving a small kiss behind Willow’s ear but didn’t get a chance to say anything else as there was suddenly a loud bursting sound and everyone looked over to see a shower of balloons everywhere, with shrieks of delight coming from the children.  
  
  
They watched as the magician plucked two of the oblong-shaped balloons that had fallen to the ground and started twisting them together, resulting in a circular base with the other balloon standing up straight, forming a hat, which he placed on JJ’s head.   
  
  
“Do you think he could make a lion!?” Jesse asked excitedly, his deep voice not offsetting the child-like nature of his question, but didn’t wait for a response as he rushed off to see for himself.  
  
  
As he hurried off, JJ came at the same speed in their direction and excitedly leapt into Tara’s arms.  
  
  
“Mommy look, I’m a unicorn!”  
  
  
“You sure are!” Tara replied with equal enthusiasm before tapping his nose affectionately, “I told you birthdays were full of magic.”  
  
  
JJ gave a toothy grin.  
  
  
“I believed. I wanna be a magician!”  
  
  
Tara shot a wry grin in Willow’s direction.  
  
  
“You know, your Momma knows a trick or two,” she said, knowing well her wife’s penchant for the amusing and mystical illusions she learned in her study of all things science.  
  
  
JJ looked over to Willow wide-eyed.  
  
  
“You do?”  
  
  
Willow grinned and nodded.  
  
  
“Oh yeah. I can hold fire in my hand and float a magnet! And we could turn water all the colours of the rainbow.”  
  
  
JJ started bouncing up and down in Tara’s arms, unable to control the excitement coursing through him.  
  
  
“Will you show me?”  
  
  
Willow nodded again.  
  
  
“I sure will. I can show you all sorts of things. But why don’t you go play with your friends now and enjoy your party?”  
  
  
JJ nodded diligently and then jumped down, returning to the group of to the other children. Willow looked at Tara excitedly and she too started bouncing on the balls of her feet.  
  
  
“I can get him a junior chemistry set!” she exclaimed, only to get a worried look from Tara, “They’re safe. They’re for kids!”  
  
  
Tara shook her head with a pointed look.  
  
  
“I trust the kits, I don’t trust a certain Momma to not try and ‘enhance’ the tricks with some obscure, dangerous gas.”  
  
  
Willow began to pout slightly. She’d been known to have more than one mishap in Chem lab during college, once even coming home with a black eye from an errant explosion.  
  
  
“I messed around with the hard stuff in college, Tara,” she said with a small, joking smile before adding seriously, “I’d never put even the smallest risk on our children.”   
  
  
Tara’s brow creased.  
  
  
“I know you wouldn’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that.”  
  
  
Willow gave a forgiving smile and held her pinky finger up. Tara smiled back and linked hers in with her wife’s, pulling her in for a sweet kiss until a loud rumbling from Willow’s stomach broke them apart. Willow cleared her throat, embarrassed, but then flashed her teeth at Tara in an expression of hope.  
  
  
“Little bean says it’s cake time.”  
  
  
Tara silently chuckled and put a hand on Willow’s shoulder to give it a quick squeeze.  
  
  
“I left the frosting to set this morning, so just give me a few minutes to decorate it and I’ll bring it out.”  
  
  
Willow nodded, then started looking around herself.  
  
  
“I’ll have the camera ready. Where did you leave it?”  
  
  
Tara gestured over at the table of food.  
  
  
“Somewhere between the gummy bears and the Hershey’s kisses.”  
  
  
“Sounds like a scavenger hunt I’ll enjoy,” Willow giggled in response and threw a wink in Tara’s direction before making her way over to the table.  
  
  
Per Tara’s directions, she found the camera sitting behind the bowl of gummy bears and picked it up. She turned it on and flicked through a few of the pictures she’d already taken with a fond smile before switching it back to camera mode and started to walk around the back yard, capturing more smiling faces and exuberant joy.  
  
  
She caught Tara’s eye as she spotted her wife starting to emerge through the sliding doors a few minutes later, holding the birthday cake on a flat, wooden chopping board. She smiled and walked over to her, mouthing a countdown before they both burst out in a cheerful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.  
  
  
JJ’s eyes shot towards the source of the singing from across the yard and he sprinted across the grass like he was being chased by a rabid dog. More voices were added to the singing as the cake was carefully brought across to the table and JJ grabbed the edge with both hands as it was placed in front of him, the dancing flames from the candles flickering in the white of his eyes.  
  
  
 _Happy birthday to JJ…Happy birthday to you!_  
  
  
He looked around in surprise as the yard went silent, too engrossed in the wonderful spectacular that was his birthday cake to have registered the song coming to an end.  
  
  
There were two layers to the cake; the bottom a rectangular shape with a perfect square sitting on top, perfectly aligned with each other and covered in bright-red frosting, which started the allusion to the fire truck it was trying to depict. On each of the bottom corners was an Oreo, depicting a wheel, with yellow M&Ms in a straight line across the front acting as lights. Red and yellow gum drops sat on the front of the top layer acting as emergency lights, and moving down the slope of the top layer to the bottom were black Twizzlers, cut and arranged to resemble a ladder. A gummy worm completed the ensemble, curled at the side to represent a hose.  
  
  
When JJ seemed too in shock to say or do anything, Tara bent down to his level and put a hand on the small of his back.  
  
  
“Blow them out and make a wish sweetie.”  
  
  
JJ looked into his reassuring mother’s face, then back at the cake. He stood on his tippy-toes to get some height on the candles and deeply filled his lungs with air before exhaling and extinguishing all six flames in one go.   
  
  
Everyone started clapping loudly and JJ grinned giddily before reaching out and making a grab for the front left wheel. Tara laughed loudly and wrapped her arms around her son as he munched on his cookie, whispering ‘happy birthday’ in his ear and dropping a series of kisses on his face before straightening up and picking up the knife sitting alongside the cake.  
  
  
“Who wants cake?” she asked cheerily and instantly got a gaggle of children surrounding her and pulling at her pants leg.  
  
  
She started to cut the cake into equal portions, giving JJ his first with two of the gum drop lights and the gummy worm hose, before distributing the rest around. Willow helped with passing plates around, handing the last slice to Alice.  
  
  
“Where did you get that?” Alice asked as she broke off a piece of the red velvet cake with the plastic fork she’d been provided, “It’s impressive. I’ll go to them for Ella’s next birthday.”  
  
  
Willow grinned.  
  
  
“Well they’re pretty exclusive, but I’m sure if you ask my wife _really_ nicely, she’ll make you whatever you want.”  
  
  
One of Alice’s eyebrows rose in surprise; she knew Tara was a good cook but the decoration of the cake seemed professionally done.  
  
  
“Tara made that?”  
  
  
“Well not by herself,” Willow answered before giving a wry grin, “I cut the Twizzlers into shape.”  
  
  
Alice laughed and nodded approvingly as she brought the fork to her mouth before Ella pulled her attention away as she crawled over and started clapping her hands and saying something akin to ‘cake’ over and over again. Willow left them sharing the slice and made her way back to Tara who was gathering the larger crumbs leftover from the cake in her hand and dropping them into the bird feeder nearby.  
  
  
“Nice cake,” she said as she approached, looking over to JJ who had red frosting smeared all over his face, “He loves it.”  
  
  
“He’s 6, of course he loves cake,” Tara laughed before reaching behind a bowl to hand Willow a hidden slice of cake, “I got you a slice.”  
  
  
Willow gratefully accepted the paper plate, but then noticed Tara’s hands were empty.  
  
  
“You not having some?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“I spent the whole morning looking at it, I don’t think I could stomach it,” she said before gesturing over Willow’s shoulder, “I’m going to go seal off the moon bounce. Cake and bouncing children does not a good mix make.”  
  
  
Willow gave a mock salute with the plastic fork.  
  
  
“Good thinking, Yoda. I can try and help if you want but I don’t know if I can bend down far enough.”  
  
  
Tara adopted a solemn look on her face.  
  
  
“Do or do not. There is no try.”  
  
  
Willow grinned wildly at that as she put a forkful of cake into her mouth, dragging the plastic fork back out coyly before dropping her head and blushing, giggling like a schoolgirl.  
  
  
“You are so sexy.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and threw a wink in her wife’s direction.  
  
  
“I’ll look after it. Cake good?”  
  
  
“Cake great,” Willow confirmed, indicatively taking breaking off another large chunk.  
  
  
Tara smiled and moved off to pull the zipper across the arched entranced to the front of the moon bounce, but none of the children seemed to mind as the magician had started face painting.  
  
  
A couple of hours later, the last of the guests left with their goodie bags full of piñata candy, mini-sets of magic playing cards and a Chinese finger trap and JJ was bouncing a rubber ball he’d received from one of his school friends as a gift and giggling each time the impact caused it to illuminate and flash bright lights at him.  
  
  
“Whaddya think, now?” Willow whispered to Tara as they watched from across the yard.  
  
  
Tara grinned and nodded before making her way over to JJ as Willow disappeared around the side gate. Tara grabbed JJ from behind as she reached him, making him squeal and jump round in fright before bouncing up and down with a giddy grin when he saw he wasn’t under attack.  
  
  
“I’m a lion,” he announced, in reference to the orange face paint and black and white strips running across his cheeks, “Rawr!”  
  
  
“Rawr!” Tara replied with a growl, throwing her hand out as if it was a claw, “Did you have a good party?”  
  
  
“Uh huh, uh huh,” JJ replied enthusiastically before his eyes went wide with hope, “Can we have pizza for dinner?”  
  
  
“Is your tummy not filled with cake and cookies?” Tara asked, grabbing JJ by the middle and tickling his stomach.   
  
  
JJ squealed and giggled as he tried to squirm out of Tara’s touch, but to little avail. After a minute or two she finally released him and started to straighten out the collar on his shirt.  
  
  
“We can have anything you want for dinner,” she said with a warm smile before her eyes twinkled and she grinned, “Guess what?”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes lit up with the kind of pure and innocent anticipation only a child could have and he began to bounce on the balls of his feet again.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
Tara smiled a secretive smile.  
  
  
“Me and Momma have another present for you.”  
  
  
JJ started to excited jump up and down.  
  
  
“Really?”  
  
  
They’d already given him a basketball and a dinosaur Lego set that morning, as well as Tara giving him a set of toy cars to add to his collection and Willow, a Spiderman figurine, but they had a bigger present they had wanted to wait until the excitement of the party was over to give to him.  
  
  
“Really?”   
  
  
“Really,” Tara confirmed with a wide grin, “Would you like to see?”  
  
  
JJ nodded eagerly and Tara straightened up, taking his hand as she lead him into and through the house, opening the front door at the other side to reveal Willow standing in the driveway, over a brand new, electric blue bicycle. She rang the bell on the side of the bike as she saw JJ appear and stop short in surprise while Tara bent down to his level behind him.  
  
  
“How would you like to start learning without training wheels?”  
  
  
JJ looked to Tara wide-eyed for a moment before making a running leap towards the bicycle, on hand on the bars and the other on the saddle, feeling everything in admiration.  
  
  
“Blue’s your favourite colour, right?” Willow asked as she watched her son take his present in.  
  
  
JJ nodded in silent awe and began to move around the bike, inspecting the different parts.  
  
  
“Can I ride it?” he asked eventually, looking up to Willow with hope.  
  
  
“You sure can,” Tara answered the question, having followed him over, “It’s a little different without training wheels. You’ll have to learn how to balance. I’ll help you.”  
  
  
“Okay,” JJ replied enthusiastically, throwing his leg over the bike and sitting firmly on the saddle with a hand on each of the handle bars and a foot on either pedal.  
  
  
The bike remained still by the brake lever by the back wheel and Willow picked up the matching blue helmet hanging off of one of the handlebars.  
  
  
“Hey, hey. Helmet first.”  
  
  
JJ grabbed the helmet from his mother’s hands and keenly strapped it under his chin. Willow adjusted it securely on his head before clapping her hands excitedly.  
  
  
“Okay wait right there, I’m gonna get the camera!” she instructed him before moving around and pulling Tara off to the side, “Don’t let go.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“I won’t.”  
  
  
Willow kept a firm grasp on Tara’s upper arm.  
  
  
“I’m serious. Do not let go. My dad let go and I broke my arm.”  
  
  
Tara put her two hands on Willow’s neck and looked at her intently.  
  
  
“I’m not going to let go.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes for and nodded to herself before turning on her heels and heading towards the house. Tara went back to JJ and showed him how the brakes worked while making sure again the helmet was securely on his head.  
  
  
Willow appeared again a minute later with the camera in hand and Tara put her hands on JJ’s shoulders.  
  
  
“I’m going to hold on to your shoulders and you just pedal like you would with your other bike. You might feel wobbly, but I’ve got you, okay?”  
  
  
JJ nodded in understanding and Tara was about to push the lever down to release the bike, but Willow’s voice stopped her.  
  
  
“Let me take a shot first!” Willow called out, “Say bicycle!”  
  
  
JJ grinned towards the camera.  
  
  
“Bicycle!”  
  
  
Tara heard the shutter of the camera click a couple times before seeing Willow drop it again and smiled at JJ.  
  
  
“Ready?”  
  
  
JJ bounced up and down on the saddle.  
  
  
“Yeah, yeah!”   
  
  
Tara slowly kicked the lever up as she held onto JJ’s shoulders and felt him begin to sway straight away.  
  
  
“I’ve got you, honey. Just pedal like you always would. Nice and slow.”  
  
  
JJ tentatively pushed one foot forward on the pedal and let his other follow. He turned to Tara with a pleased grin that he was doing it before realising that made him wobble again and looked forward, his fists firmly clasped around the handlebars.   
  
  
They gently rode up and down the block with Willow calling out encouragements and taking photographs until JJ piped up, speaking to Tara but keeping his focus ahead on the road.  
  
  
“I can do it by myself!!”  
  
  
Tara kept her firm steady on her son’s shoulders as they continued to push ahead.  
  
  
“Why don’t we just keep going for another few minutes?”  
  
  
JJ didn’t argue and they turned around at the end of the street. When they reached the top again, he repeated himself assuredly.  
  
  
“I can do it, Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara exhaled for a moment, then nodded. JJ wasn’t going to learn if she held him every second of the way, and he seemed to have a good idea of the mechanisms down.  
  
  
“Okay. I’ll count down from three,” she said, slowly easing her grip on the boy’s shoulders, “Three…two…one!”  
  
  
She stopped in place as her hands left JJ’s shoulders, and he ambled ahead for about a foot before promptly toppling over to the side. Tara anticipated the fall and caught his upper body before it impacted, but swiftly found him ripped from her grip as Willow yanked him close to her, having come running when she saw her let go.  
  
  
“Dammit, Tara, I told you not to let go!”  
  
  
Tara put her hands on JJ’s head and gently stroked his hair until they were covering his ears.  
  
  
“Do not talk to me like that in front of him, or ever,” she hissed, the severe tone making Willow pull away from JJ in shock.  
  
  
Tara focused her attention back on her son, who was looking forlornly down at his lightly scraped knee, visible just under the shorts he was wearing.  
  
  
“Did you get an owie?” she asked gently and got a meek answering nod in return. She fished in her pocket for a moment, before pulling out a small blue Band-Aid with a flash of pink across it, “It’s piglet.”  
  
  
JJ gave a small sniffle.  
  
  
“I like piglet.”  
  
  
“I know,” Tara replied kindly, dropping her head to JJ’s knee and kissing it tenderly before covering it with the Band-Aid, “All better.”  
  
  
JJ looked down at his knee and gave a small nod, fully believing his mother’s kiss could cure anything.  
  
  
“Do you want to try again?” Tara asked, only for JJ to look towards the toppled bike in front of him warily, “You don’t have to. But I think you should give it a try. Sometimes we try something and it hurts the first time, but we get up, and we try again and we keep trying until we get it right. You can do anything and be anything if you just keep trying and never give up.”  
  
  
JJ looked over to Tara and lifted his chin up with a resolute nod.  
  
  
“I wanna try again.”  
  
  
“That’s my boy,” Tara beamed, helping to get both him and the bike into an upright position.  
  
  
She didn’t notice Willow standing as well until JJ was back on the saddle and she felt a hand brush lightly against her cheek. She looked over the bike to her wife who was wearing an expression of deep regret and her eyes were creased in a way that told Tara she was trying not to cry.  
  
  
Willow’s mouth opened but no sound came out for a moment before she finally silently mouthed ‘I’m sorry’.  
  
  
Tara offered a smile of forgiveness and brought her hand up to slip into Willow’s sideways, turning her head in to kiss her wife’s palm before taking a hold of JJ’s waist and turning them both towards her.  
  
  
“Smile for Momma. Bicycle!”  
  
  
“Bicycle!” JJ repeated dutifully.  
  
  
Willow looked at Tara adoringly for a second before lifting the camera a taking a snapshot of the two of them.  
  
  
“Ready?” Tara asked and JJ nodded with a focused look ahead.  
  
  
They slowly ambled off again, repeating the same route along the street until JJ once again voiced his confidence in trying to do it by himself. Tara counted him down again before releasing her hold on him and let out a loud cheer as he stayed balanced and moving down the block.  
  
  
“I’m doing it!” he called at the exact same moment as Willow called ‘He’s doing it!’  
  
  
JJ, somewhat shakily, but still balanced, slowly pedalled forwards in Willow’s direction, grinning at her wildly as he approached and moved past her.   
  
  
Willow clapped loudly with a proud smile on her face until she felt Tara’s arm wrap around her waist and give her hip an affectionate squeeze, telling her the moment of harshness from earlier had indeed been completely forgiven and forgotten, and she forgave herself in that moment too, taking her own advice to her father earlier.  
  
  
They watched their son build in confidence as he zipped up and down the block, falling once, but jumping back on the saddle before either woman either had a chance to react or run to him. Willow leant her head into Tara’s chest and gave a content sigh.  
  
  
“He’s the best thing we ever did.”  
  
  
Tara brushed her fingers against the side of Willow’s bump.  
  
  
“One of the two.”


	53. Chapter 53

  
“Don’t you dare try to lift that.”  
  
  
Willow put her hands up defensively as she stepped away from the baggage carousel and let Tara yank the suitcase off. Tara pressed down the release button on the handle and pulled it up, huffing out a breath of effort as she turned it to drag behind her.  
  
  
“I still don’t see why we need this huge bag for one weekend.”  
  
  
“Because my body doesn’t like to tell me where exactly it’s going to bloat each day so I needed a lot of outfit choices!” Willow snapped, rubbing the back of her neck to try and ease the cramp she’d developed from sitting in a cramped airline seat for more than six hours.  
  
  
Tara leant the suitcase back down and turned to Willow, putting her hands on her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“Come here. Let me.”  
  
  
Willow lolled her neck forward as Tara pressed into her sore muscles and sighed softly.  
  
  
“Sorry for being catty.”  
  
  
“It’s okay,” Tara replied soothingly, gently digging her thumbs in a circular motion around Willow’s neck, “You’re doing great.”  
  
  
Willow rolled her shoulders backwards and looked over to Tara with a raised eyebrow.  
  
  
“We haven’t even left the airport yet.”  
  
  
Tara stilled her hands and dropped a kiss on Willow’s cheek.  
  
  
“Deciding to come at all was a huge thing.”   
  
  
Willow nodded and offered a weak smile.  
  
  
“Thanks. My neck feels better.”  
  
  
Tara let her thumbs give a final rotation below Willow’s shoulders before slipping her hand down and entwining their fingers together. She lifted the handle on the suitcase again and dragged it behind her as she led them towards the exit signs.   
  
  
As they approached the main area of the airport, she felt Willow hand begin to grip hers tightly, before the redhead stopped short completely, rubbing her hand over her chest like she had heartburn.  
  
  
“The last time I was here I was going off to college. Thought I’d be home for Hanukkah,” Willow spoke with an obviously nervous chuckle, “My mother actually hugged me goodbye. I didn’t think she’d be renouncing my existence a couple of months later.”  
  
  
Tara looked at Willow sadly as the redhead tried to hide the obvious hurt she was feeling with another laugh, then bent her knees to gently drop the suitcase on the ground and quietly embraced her wife. Willow instantly closed her eyes and smiled softly, rolling her eyes as she noticed a group of people staring at them before pulling away and touching Tara’ cheek affectionately.  
  
  
“I didn’t think I’d fall in love with my soulmate within eighteen months either,” she said warmly before taking her hand back and putting it against the small of her back, “I need to sit, can you deal with the car stuff?”  
  
  
“Are you sure?” Tara asked, unsure if Willow was putting up a front.  
  
  
“I didn’t squash myself into that airplane seat for nothing,” Willow quipped in response and gave Tara a reassuring smile, “Just hold my hand and I’ll be okay.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and picked up the suitcase handle again with one hand.  
  
  
“I can do better than that. C’mere.”  
  
  
She wrapped her spare arm around Willow’s waist and pulled her close. Willow dropped her head onto Tara’s shoulder and let herself be led through the rest of the airport and through the crowds of people until they were at the car rental booth that they’d booked a car for the weekend from.  
  
  
Willow moved off to the side to sit on a bench and rest while Tara dealt with the paperwork, then they walked outside and waited for the rep to pull up with their rental.  
  
  
“You can really smell the ocean,” Tara commented, inhaling the air.  
  
  
Willow inhaled as well and gave a soft smile.  
  
  
“Yeah, I guess you can.”  
  
  
They waited another moment before a shiny red sports car pulled up and a man hopped out and handed Tara the keys.  
  
  
“Enjoy your car, ma’am, please do call us if you have any queries.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara replied with a small wave as the man went back inside the building and she brought the suitcase around to fit in the trunk.  
  
  
On the curb, Willow stared at the car, wide-eyed.  
  
  
“This is ours?” she asked, contained excitement starting to bubble out in her tone, “You rented a mustang?!”  
  
  
Tara shut the trunk and walked back up to Willow.  
  
  
“These are the ones you like, right? I know you talk cars with Angel, so I called him and he said a mustang was the way to go.”  
  
  
“Oh, a mustang was definitely the right choice,” Willow replied, running her hand in awe across the side of the car before straightening up and pouting, “I’m too big to drive a mustang.”  
  
  
“Well you can still enjoy it if I drive, right?” Tara asked, gesturing towards the driver’s seat, “I’ll…rev the engine or whatever, whenever you like.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and placed a kiss against Tara’s cheek.  
  
  
“Yes, it’s still great. Wonderful. Thank you.”  
  
  
“Come along, m’lady,” Tara said, linking arms with Willow and bringing her around to the passenger side, opening the door for her.  
  
  
Willow giggled and sat inside; pushing the seat back as far as it would go as Tara got in the driver’s seat and went to put the keys in the ignition before frowning at the GPS Sat-Nav located between the seats.  
  
  
“Willow, can you do the…technical stuff please.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and leaned forwards to key in the location of the hotel; she wasn’t quite sure she remembered the way from the airport.  
  
  
“Your technophobia’s so endearing.”  
  
  
Tara cast a wary glance at the piece of machinery and finally did turn on the engine.  
  
  
“This one won’t speak to me in Spock’s voice like yours does when I borrow your car, will it?”  
  
  
The Sat-Nav burst to life in that moment, offering a greeting in a pleasant woman’s voice.  
  
  
“Nope. Standard suburban housewife,” Willow said as Tara pulled away from the curb, “You’d appreciate the Spock voice if you’d just watch some Star Trek with me, you know.”  
  
  
Tara lifted her hand from the gearstick for a moment dismissively.   
  
  
“I watched those movies they made a few years back. They were good.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyebrow shot up straight up.  
  
  
“My inner geek hates you right now,” she said, bringing a hand up to slap her forehead, “Don’t listen, brain. She knows not what she says.”  
  
  
Tara laughed silently before grinning over at her wife.  
  
  
“Okay, I’ve pissed off your inner geek, but I bet I can impress your inner stud.”  
  
  
Willow took her hand down from her head and looked to Tara curiously.  
  
  
“My inner stud is listening.”  
  
  
Tara continued to grin and pressed a button on the dashboard, making the top of the car begin to recede backwards. Willow looked on in awe as the top went completely down and leant back in the seat.  
  
  
“My inner stud is impressed.”  
  
  
Tara threw a wink in Willow’s direction.  
  
  
“She’ll have to show me later.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and moved her hand on top of Tara’s on the gearstick.   
  
  
“She most definitely will.”  
  
  
They were quiet for a few minutes until Tara noticed the numerous fields they were passing on their journey and began to comment on the various plant life she recognised from her own interest in flora and fauna.  
  
  
“…those orange-y ones are California poppies, I’m sure you knew that. Did you know they’re the state flower?” Tara asked idly as they passed an expanse of vibrantly coloured flowers before feeling Willow’s hand tense and directed her gaze towards her wife momentarily, “You okay?”  
  
  
Willow nodded weakly, but had gone deathly white, looking intently out the front of the car.  
  
  
“Just…Déjà vu.”  
  
  
Tara followed her wife’s eyeline and saw they were entering the main town, a slightly decrepit ‘Welcome to Sunnydale’ sign zooming past them as houses and other establishments began to pop up. She could almost hear Willow’s heart pounding as an echo and gently stroked her fingers in comfort.  
  
  
“They’re just buildings,” she whispered, “I remember that first time we drove up to Rochester, I felt like my throat was closing in when I saw everything I’d worked so hard to get away from. But they’re just buildings. They can only have a hold over you if you let them.”  
  
  
Willow blinked a couple of times as Tara’s words sank in and she felt the tightness in her chest begin to ease. She watched the familiar buildings continue to go by in a haze, but didn’t feel the imminent dread she had a second before as they passed her by. She turned Tara’s hand to squeeze her fingers and looked over to her wife, her eyes shining with gratitude and love.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as they stopped at a stoplight and leaned over to drop her lips against Willow’s keep in a lingering kiss before breaking off with a few shorter ones. She began to hum quietly as the light turned green and the car pushed forwards until the redhead started speaking, calmly and happily.  
  
  
“That’s the park. I used to study there on nice days. I’d bring all my books and just lie on the grass,” she said as they passed the local park, then rounded the corner and she recognised the steps and large arched entrance to her high school, “There’s the school. I’ll show you properly later.”  
  
  
Tara nodded from across the car.  
  
  
“Our hotel shouldn’t be far then, they said it was only a 2 minute walk to the school.”  
  
  
“Yeah, it’s just around the corner,” Willow confirmed, right as the GPS told Tara to take a left, “Right there.”  
  
  
A large building with the name of the hotel in large letters across the front greeted them and Tara drove into the parking lot, parking as close to the entrance as she could. She pressed the button for the top to come back over them before exiting the car and retrieving their suitcase while Willow walked around from the other side.  
  
  
Tara took Willow’s hand again as she walked them into the hotel lobby and checked them in without any difficulty. They rode the elevator to their floor and made their way to their room, a large and bright space with a big king-sized bed in the middle and windows that overlooked the town.  
  
  
“Nice room,” Tara commented as she shut the door behind them, then noticed Willow was trying to reach behind her neck, “Is your neck still sore?”  
  
  
“My back,” Willow replied with a sigh, sitting on the end of the bed and putting her hands on her lower back as she arched it in a stretch, “I knew I should’ve brought my lumbar support from work.”  
  
  
Tara pushed their suitcase into the open closet space and moved to sit behind Willow, placing one hand on her shoulder and the other square on her back, pushing her knuckles in lightly.  
  
  
“We’ll get you something at the airport going home. I’m sure they’ll have one of those inflatable things or something.”  
  
  
Willow shifted around to guide Tara’s hand where the ache was.  
  
  
“Thanks,” she replied, letting out a grateful moan, “That’s really helping.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her hands to the base of Willow’s shirt and pulled it out from her pants so she could dig her fingers into her wife’s skin. After several minutes of contact, Willow let out a relaxed sigh and leant back against Tara’s front.  
  
  
“Magic hands.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and brought her hands around to rest on Willow’s bump, pressing a kiss inside of her neck.  
  
  
“Why don’t you have a nap? Recharge those batteries before tonight.”  
  
  
“That does sound good…” Willow replied before looking over her shoulder to Tara, “What’ll you do?”  
  
  
Tara held her hands up with a shrug.  
  
  
“I’ll go for a walk. See the town. You can show me any special places you want to tomorrow.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Willow responded with an errant yawn, a wave of exhaustion washing over her.  
  
  
She began to shuffle up the bed towards the pillows and pushed her stretchy jeans over her bump and down her legs, letting them fall off the end.  
  
  
“Be back before dark,” she called over her shoulder to Tara, who had gone over to their bag to find a sweater. When she only gave a non-committal sound of agreement, Willow continued more sternly, “I’m serious. If the sun even looks like it’s thinking about setting, get back here.”  
  
  
Tara started to button the grey sweater she’s retrieved from top to bottom.  
  
  
“Yes, Willow, you’ve told me all about ‘Sunnyweird’.”  
  
  
Willow rolled herself onto her back with a grunt of effort and propped herself up on her elbows.  
  
  
“Tara, this town is creeptacular. It emits some kind of frequency only the weirdest of the weird can hear or something. If you’re not back, I will come out and find you; do you really want your pregnant wife wandering around alone in the dark?”  
  
  
Tara sighed as she fastened the last button, then walked over to Willow and leant over her, popping a quick kiss on her lips.  
  
  
“I promise I’ll be back,” she replied assuredly, “Now, would you like me to snuggle you until you fall asleep?”   
  
  
Willow remained propped up on her elbows for a moment as she kept a steady gaze on Tara, ensuring she understood she was very serious about coming back at a safe hour before giving a shy smile and nodding.  
  
  
“Yes, please.”  
  
  
“Okay, get comfy,” Tara said as she climbed onto the bed and waited for Willow to turn herself back on her side.  
  
  
When her wife stopped shifting, she settled behind and curled her body into the redhead.  
  
  
“We should get under the covers.”  
  
  
Willow whined and shook her head.  
  
  
“I’m hot.”  
  
  
“I know you are,” Tara replied in a low murmur, lightly nibbling on Willow’s earlobe, making the redhead giggle, “Just in case you get chilly while you’re sleeping. Just under the sheet.”  
  
  
Willow groaned in annoyance as she was forced to move as Tara pulled the sheet out from under them.  
  
  
“You’re so bossy.”  
  
  
“I know, I’m a horrible wife,” Tara replied, holding the sheet up, “Now get under the covers.”  
  
  
Willow settled again and sighed softly as the cool of the sheet hit against her bare legs.  
  
  
“You’re not a _horrible_ wife,” she said after a moment as Tara’s arm fell over her waist and pulled them close together, “Back at the beginning of the Roman Empire there was an empress called Messalina. She used to have sex with anything that moved, then plotted to kill her husband so one of her lovers would become emperor. Now she was a bad wife.”  
  
  
Willow couldn’t see, but she knew Tara was smiling as she felt a nuzzling against the back of her head.  
  
  
“So, on a scale of 1 to Messalina, where do I fall?”  
  
  
Willow smiled as Tara’s fingers slid into hers against her stomach and closed her eyes as she got ready for sleep.  
  
  
“Wherever my heart is.”  
  
  
She felt Tara cuddle closer into her and place a warm kiss against the back of her ear.  
  
  
“Sleep well, beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow fell asleep within the minute, the smile never leaving her face.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Willow woke with a slight jolt as she heard a clicking sound from somewhere nearby. She slowly pushed herself up and looked around the room, confused by her surroundings for a second before finally remembering where she was.   
  
  
She looked to the clock above the TV and saw she’d been asleep for a couple of hours but didn’t have much time to ponder it before the clicking sound rang through her ears again.  
  
  
She looked around to try and locate the sound but her attention was quickly brought to the door as it opened and Tara walked through, frowning at the key-card.  
  
  
“Key is sticky. Hi gorgeous,” she said cheerily, leaving a small boutique bag on the unit the television was sitting on before pointing towards the window, “Barely even dusk.”  
  
  
Willow looked over to the windows and registered the slightly darkened sky.  
  
  
“Oh yeah,” she replied, sleepily rubbing one eye, “Thanks.”  
  
  
Tara lifted her food to the end of the bed and began to unstrap her boots, looking up to Willow with a grin.  
  
  
“Nice hair-do.”  
  
  
Willow shifted over in the bed to look at herself in the mirror directly opposite and giggled at the way her hair had coiled around itself and stuck up in various different places.  
  
  
“I look like Medusa.”  
  
  
Tara gave a curious smile as she pulled off one boot and got started on the other.  
  
  
“You’re being quite the history buff today.”  
  
  
Willow bent one arm backwards behind herself in a stretch.  
  
  
“I am a wealth of all kinds of information.”  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow, still grinning.  
  
  
“Oh really?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow replied confidently, “I know that the square root of pi is 1.77245385, that every year about 98% of the atoms in your body are replaced and that that tingle you feel in your spine right now is because I’m turning you on, bedhead and all.”  
  
  
Tara shot a crooked smile in her wife’s direction.  
  
  
“I never said you weren’t turning me on.”  
  
  
Willow blushed as she watched Tara leave her boots in the corner of the room, then noticed the small bag beside the television.  
  
  
“Whatcha buy?”  
  
  
Tara sauntered over to pick up the bag, then back over to Willow, sitting beside her. She reached into the bag and pulled out a miniature white dress with yellow and blue flowers embroidered down the front, which she lay out over Willow’s belly.  
  
  
Willow felt her heart melt as she looked at the tiny dress and smoothed it out over her stomach with one hand.  
  
  
“It’s adorable.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“I hadn’t bought her anything since I found out she was a she. I passed a baby store and I couldn’t resist going in.”  
  
  
“Baby store…” Willow whispered to herself, a look of curiosity crossing her face, “I wonder if Cordelia Chase’s mother still owns it.”  
  
  
“Cordelia Chase?” Tara asked with a raised eyebrow, “The girl who bullied you?”  
  
  
Willow shrugged one shoulder.  
  
  
“One of them.”  
  
  
Tara’s lips pressed together and she nodded.  
  
  
“That might explain why the lady in there said I must only be ‘three or four months along’. Must run in the family.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyebrows shot up.  
  
  
“What? You don’t look pregnant. At all,” she replied emphatically, reaching over and pulling Tara’s shirt up, “You could spin a dreidel on that thing.”  
  
  
Tara pulled her shirt back down embarrassedly, but with a smile.  
  
  
“I don’t care if someone thinks I look pregnant. You look pregnant and you couldn’t be more beautiful,” she responded before taking the baby’s dress back and folding it back into the bag, “How was your nap?”  
  
  
Willow stretched her arms out in front of her with a satisfied smile.  
  
  
“I slept right up until you got back.”  
  
  
“Good,” Tara replied, standing up to leave the bag beside the TV again, “You must be starving. Will we just order room service? You can take me to that restaurant you wanted tomorrow night.”  
  
  
“Good idea,” Willow replied, taking the room service menu from Tara as the blonde handed it to her and scanning the list of delicious-sounding food, “Can I get everything?”  
  
  
Tara chuckled as she walked into the bathroom.  
  
  
“If you want everything.”  
  
  
Willow tapped a finger down the various prices alongside the dishes.  
  
  
“And it would probably cost a mere…$2,300.”  
  
  
Willow heard the toilet flush, then saw Tara walk back out, eyeing the menu warily.  
  
  
“Why don’t you order one thing off that menu and if you’re still hungry I’ll get you as many pizzas as you like.”  
  
  
Willow laughed and closed the menu, leaving it on the nightstand.  
  
  
“I’m just gonna get the burger I think. With some mashed potato.”  
  
  
Tara walked over and picked up the menu.  
  
  
“Instead of the fries?” she asked, then looked over to Willow when she got no response and saw the guilty look on her face, making her chuckle, “As well as the fries.”  
  
  
Willow pouted.  
  
  
“Don’t judge me.”  
  
  
“Not a single judgement entered my mind,” Tara replied, sitting on the arm of the chair in the corner of the room as she perused the menu, “I like the look of the roast chicken. If I get some fried squid to start, will you eat some? There’s no way I could eat both.”  
  
  
Willow lay her head back against the pillows and rested her hands on her belly with a content sigh.  
  
  
“Any question that starts with ‘will you eat’, my answer will be yes.”  
  
  
One side of Tara’s lips quirked into a grin behind the menu.  
  
  
“I’ll have to remember that,” she murmured, though apparently loud enough for Willow to hear as she felt the menu being pushed out of her hands from an airborne pillow launched in her direction, “Hey!”  
  
  
“You are a dirty woman,” Willow replied with faux indignation.  
  
  
“It’s a side effect of having a sexy wife,” Tara replied as she sauntered back over to the bed, “Scoot.”  
  
  
Willow pushed herself up on the mattress and groaned as she shimmied over.  
  
  
“Asking a pregnant woman to scoot is like asking a flea to push a tonne of bricks.”  
  
  
“You’re a very beautiful flea,” Tara said as she lay down next to Willow and picked up the phone on the nightstand, dialling down to reception, “Hi, this is room 418. Could I order some room service please?”  
  
  
Willow ran her hand down Tara’s hair affectionately as she listened to her ordering their food, before giving a light tug on the end and whispering.  
  
  
“Iced tea.”  
  
  
“And I get a pitcher of iced tea?” Tara spoke into the phone, “Sweetened. Thank you.”  
  
  
She dropped the phone back onto the hook and swung her legs off the bed.  
  
  
“I’m going to go shower so my hair has time to dry. Do you need anything?”  
  
  
“Could you throw me the remote?” Willow asked as Tara walked past the TV and held her hands out to catch as it came flying in her direction, “Thanks baby.”  
  
  
She flicked the television on and watched an old episode of The Simpsons as she heard the shower run in the background until it shut off and Tara appeared a few moments later, wrapped in a robe and running a towel through her hair.  
  
  
“ _Amazing_ shower.”  
  
  
Willow narrowed her eyes playfully.  
  
  
“Should I be jealous?”  
  
  
Tara gave a wry grin.  
  
  
“Not that amazing.”  
  
  
Willow giggled but was stopped from saying anything as a loud knock came from the door.   
  
  
“Just a second,” Tara called as she picked up her purse from the floor and frowned when she peered inside, “Do you have any cash?”  
  
  
Willow grinned and stuck her tongue out.  
  
  
“Just open your robe a bit and you won’t have to give him a tip.”  
  
  
Tara hid a grin to herself and started to turn towards the door, pulling the tie on the robe open as she did so. Willow instantly shot up in the bed.  
  
  
“Don’t you dare.”  
  
  
Tara turned back around and gave her wife a pointed look as she tied the robe again.  
  
  
“Do you have any cash?” she repeated.  
  
  
Willow crossed her arms over her chest and pouted slightly to herself.  
  
  
“I broke a 20 earlier buying some gum at the airport. Check my back jeans pocket.”  
  
  
She watched as Tara picked up her discarded jeans and fished a 10 dollar bill from the back pocket before finally going to answer the door. She listened to her wife exchange pleasantries will the bellhop for a few moments until the door closed again and Tara pushed a rolling cart of covered plates and a jug into the room.   
  
  
“That wasn’t funny,” Willow said as Tara poured some iced tea into two glasses.  
  
  
“Yes it was. You can’t out-tease a tease,” Tara grinned, swinging her hips as she walked over to Willow and handed her a glass, leaning over her so their faces were just millimetres apart, “You know how much of a tease I am.”  
  
  
Willow closed her hand around the cold glass and rested it against the mattress. Her eyes fluttered down from Tara’s eyes to her lips, which seemed to plump up invitingly just for her. She closed her eyes completely and leant forward to meet them, but found herself met with thin air, accidentally spilling some of her drink on herself in surprise.  
  
  
She opened her eyes and saw the back of Tara standing over their cart of food, humming. She shook her hand free of the few droplets of iced tea that had run down her, then wiped it on her t-shirt as Tara turned back to her, two dishes in hand and a sly grin on her face.  
  
  
“You are an amazing woman,” Willow commented as Tara laid her plate and her extra order of mashed potato alongside her.  
  
  
Tara’s smirked a little more.  
  
  
“You’re just saying that because I have food in my hands.”  
  
  
Willow turned to leave her glass and the nightstand, then grabbed a hold of the collar on Tara’s robe and pulled her down close again.  
  
  
“I’m saying it because it’s true,” she said before finally claiming the kiss she had been denied before.  
  
  
Tara smiled against Willow’s lips as the redhead’s hand moved to the side of her neck and gently responded for a few moments before pulling away slightly.  
  
  
“Your food’s getting cold.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her hand down Tara’s arm and entwined their fingers.  
  
  
“Eat with me.”  
  
  
“I am,” Tara replied, giving Willow’s hand a squeeze before going back to get the last two plates and placed them on the bed as well, then lay on her side opposite Willow, “Try not to spill, I don’t want to sleep on ketchup stains.”  
  
  
Willow made sure the napkin wrapped around her burger was secure and narrowed her eyes.  
  
  
“Are you calling me a messy eater?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head as she picked up a piece of squid and tore off the end with her teeth.  
  
  
“No, I’m calling a burger a notoriously messy food,” she said, offering Willow the other end of the squid and lightly tracing her lips as she chewed, “You are a very neat…eater.”  
  
  
Willow was all too aware of where Tara’s gaze was directed as she ate the squid and waited for her eyes to flutter upwards before shaking her head playfully.  
  
  
“You’re being dirty again.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and sucked the tip of her thumb into her mouth to get rid of the few crumbs that had gathered.  
  
  
“Stop being sexy and I’ll stop being dirty.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and dropped her gaze momentarily before fluttering her eyelids back up at Tara.  
  
  
“I’ve told you you’re an amazing woman right?”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara replied as she took another piece of squid and placed one end in her mouth and held it up.  
  
  
Willow understood and turned her head to take the other end between her teeth, slowly chewing her way around the coiled batter until they met in the middle and both giggled as their lips brushed.  
  
  
“There was a reason Lady and The Tramp used spaghetti,” Willow said as she swallowed the last bite, “It’s not as twisty.”  
  
  
“Hmm,” Tara replied, scanning the dishes lying between them before picking up a thin piece of asparagus from her roast chicken dish and copied the action she had done with the squid, placing one end in her mouth.  
  
  
Willow dutifully took the other end in her teeth again and the vegetable was thin enough that they reached each other’s lips again with one quick suck. More laughter escaped as they both bit down and kissed for a minute before going back to just chewing.  
  
  
“It’s probably not going to work with the burger,” Willow grinned through a mouthful, wiping the side of her mouth.  
  
  
“No, I don’t think so,” Tara giggled, picking up her knife and fork and cutting off a piece of chicken, which she offered to Willow, “We’ll have to be more civilised and use the cutlery.”  
  
  
“Oh how fancy,” Willow replied in a faux-affected accent as she wrapped her lips around the chicken, but had to bring her hand up to cover her mouth when she let out a snort of laughter.  
  
  
They shared the rest of their meal, though Tara was full quite a while before Willow; just talking and laughing as they enjoyed each other’s company.  
  
  
When they finished, Tara piled the dishes back onto the cart and wiped the bed down to get rid of any crumbs while Willow watched on, sipping on her iced tea.  
  
  
“This is so nice I almost forgot the little school of horrors we have to go to tonight.”  
  
  
Tara sighed and lay back down beside Willow.  
  
  
“If you expect the worst, the worst will happen.”  
  
  
“If you expect the worst, you’ll never be disappointed,” Willow responded, head leaning on her palm above her outstretched elbow.  
  
  
Tara reached up and cupped Willow’s cheek for a moment.  
  
  
“C’mere, I’m gonna transfer some optimism to you,” she announced, putting a finger against the side of her mouth, “It only works lip-to-lip.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and shuffled towards Tara before leaning down and covering her mouth with her own.   
  
  
Tara put her hand on the back of Willow’s neck and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. She heard Willow moan as she pushed her tongue between the redhead’s teeth and started to play with hers.  
  
  
She gently massaged the back of Willow’s neck as they continued to kiss for several minutes until she pulled away and grinned at her wife.  
  
  
“Did it work?”  
  
  
“I definitely feel more…encouraged,” Willow replied, her lips plumped and eyes heavy a she put a hand under the robe and onto Tara’s collarbone, pushing it off to one side, “I don’t know if it’s in the way you were hoping.”  
  
  
Tara grabbed Willow’s wrist as it made a beeline for her naked breast and pushed it away, covering herself with her robe again.  
  
  
“Hands off until after the reunion.”  
  
  
“Why?” Willow asked with a pout, looking over to the digital clock on top of the television, “We have time.”  
  
  
Tara fastened the tie on her robe more tightly around her waist.  
  
  
“Because then, no matter what, you have something to look forward to.”  
  
  
Willow narrowed her eyes in thought.  
  
  
“Is that what eternal optimism feels like?” she asked after a moment with joking smile and got an affirmative nod from Tara in response, “So you’re saying, all I have to do to alter my view on life…is to remember that you’ll pretty much have sex with me whenever I want?”   
  
  
Tara quietly chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes.  
  
  
“Well you could think about how much we love each other or how we have a wonderful family and marriage, but if the hot and sweaty is what gets you through the day…”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly and leant her head back onto her palm again.  
  
  
“I read once that guys think about sex every seven seconds. That’s about how often I think about your smile,” she replied, feeling her heart flutter as her wife’s lips quirked in just the way she was talking about, “It doesn’t matter what else happens in the day, I know I’m going to get to see that smile and it’ll all be okay.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her gaze momentarily and Willow watched them fill with love as they focused back up on her and look at her adoringly.  
  
  
“I think you’re a closet optimist.”  
  
  
“Hey, I’m not a closet anything,” Willow responded haughtily, pushing out her chest, “I’m out and proud.”  
  
  
“And that’s exactly what you’re going to be tonight,” Tara replied, poking Willow’s shoulder for emphasis, “Why don’t I run you a bath and you can relax before throwing on one of the nine dresses you brought.”  
  
  
“I only brought eight,” Willow replied defensively before giving a small smile, “That does sound nice.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and pushed herself up and off the bed.  
  
  
“Bubbles?” she asked, getting a nod from Willow before she disappeared into the bathroom.  
  
  
Willow rolled over to the side of the bed and shuffled into a sitting position. She started to pull off her socks before a thought occurred to her and she called out to Tara.  
  
  
“Don’t forget to allow for water displacement!”  
  
  
There was a beat of silence before Tara’s confused voice called back.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
Willow stood and walked with a slight waddle into the bathroom, leaning against the doorframe as Tara poured a capful of bubble-bath into the half-filled tub.  
  
  
“Water displacement,” Willow repeated, “My density’s higher than normal so you need to allow for the volume of water to rise proportionally.”  
  
  
Tara swirled the water around with her arm for a few moments before turning off the taps and wiping it against a towel on the handrail, then went to Willow and patted her shoulder.  
  
  
“Normal people just say ‘don’t fill the tub as much’.”  
  
  
Willow just shrugged.  
  
  
“You didn’t fall in love with a normal person.”  
  
  
Tara gave a crooked smile.  
  
  
“You’re right. I fell in love with an extraordinary person,” she said as she moved to embrace Willow from behind and left a gentle kiss under her ear, “You know chemistry really turns me on.”  
  
  
Willow leant back into Tara’s touch and smirked.  
  
  
“Gases are made up of particles where diameters are negligible compared to the distances between them.”  
  
  
“Oh, baby,” Tara breathed as she dropped her head into Willow’s neck and nipped at her skin  
  
  
Willow bit her lip to stop herself from laughing and tilted her neck to the side.  
  
  
“Activation energy is the minimum energy with which particles need to collide to cause a reaction.”  
  
  
She felt the hand Tara had on her stomach pull their bodies together more and a shiver went up her spine as her wife’s breasts pushed against the very thin material of her t-shirt.  
  
  
“Atoms.”  
  
  
Her normally full mind went blank as she felt Tara scrape her teeth along her pulse point and inhaled deeply before looking over her shoulder to her wife.  
  
  
“Think there’s room in the tub for two?”  
  
  
Tara paused her actions and grinned.  
  
  
“I don’t think I allowed for the water displacement.”   
  
  
Willow giggled loudly and Tara pressed a series of quick kisses against her cheek.  
  
  
“Enjoy your bath, sweetie.”  
  
  
She left with another quick kiss and picked up her make-up bag from the suitcase before taking a seat in front of the large mirror against the wall by the television.   
  
  
She ran a brush through her now mostly-dried hair and sprayed some product in her hair to give it the bounce she wanted before tying it back away from her face so she could start on her make-up. She rubbed a thin layer of foundation into her skin and set it with a few strokes of face powder before moving onto her eyes, though didn’t get a chance to bring her eyeline quite against her when she heard a groaning sound coming from the bathroom.  
  
  
She dropped her eyeliner and looked in that direction only to hear the sound again. She went over to the doorway and peered in, seeing one of Willow’s legs elevated and half-covered in shaving foam while she appeared to be struggling to lean forward.  
  
  
“Everything okay?”  
  
  
Willow jumped slightly in surprise and cleared her throat.  
  
  
“Yes.”  
  
  
Tara was unconvinced and moved further into the room, perching on the edge of the tub.  
  
  
“You sounded like you were having some trouble.”  
  
  
Willow remained stoic for a moment before sighing and tossing the razor she had in her hand onto the ledge of the bath.  
  
  
“I can’t reach my legs.”  
  
  
Tara took Willow’s ankle in her hand rested it on her knee, rubbing the dollops of foam from the top of Willow’s leg down the rest of the way.  
  
  
“Let me help.”  
  
  
“No!” Willow squealed in alarm, pulling her leg back.  
  
  
Tara put her hands up to stop her face from getting splashed.  
  
  
“Why not?”  
  
  
“Because!” Willow spluttered, her cheeks reddening, “That’s not a sexy…wifey…thing…It’s not…”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes and grabbed the razor, keeping Willow’s leg steady as she let it glide  
  
  
“Hey!” Willow all but yelled, her eyes wide, “Hey, you can’t…this is razor assault…Tara!”   
  
  
Tara just continued and slapped Willow’s foot lightly.  
  
  
“Stop squirming or I’ll nick you.”  
  
  
Willow did as she was told but looked away embarrassedly before finally speaking sheepishly.  
  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
  
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed to ask for help with these things, you know,” Tara replied, eyeing around the area she was using the razor on before giving Willow a pointed look as she shook in clean in the water, “I’m your _life_ partner, not just your sex partner.”  
  
  
She brought the razor down under Willow’s knee and gave her wife a wry grin.  
  
  
“I promised to love, honour and shave as long as we both shall live,” she declared, making Willow smile before easing Willow’s now hair-free leg back into the tub and patting her knee, “Next one.”  
  
  
Willow gave Tara her second leg without issue and looked on at her with adoration as she covered her with more foam and smoothed out her skin.  
  
  
“Get around my ankle,” she said as Tara was finishing up.  
  
  
“I have been doing this myself for 20 years,” Tara replied with a wink in Willow’s direction, “Now, let me see…”  
  
  
She placed the razor down and splashed some water onto Willow’s leg, rubbing away the last of the foam before lifting her ankle up and placing three gentle kisses along her shin, then smiling at her wife.  
  
  
“Passes the Tara seal of softness.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and took her leg back, slipping it under the water before reaching for Tara’s hand.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and stood to wipe her hand dry on a towel.  
  
  
“Anytime.”  
  
  
“I will totally shave your legs if you ever get into a situation where you can’t reach them,” Willow said, making Tara hunch down beside her and grin.  
  
  
“I thought we agreed to get this little girlie out before we started talking about the next one.”  
  
  
Willow grinned back.  
  
  
“Hey, you’re the one who jumped straight to pregnancy. I was thinking like…if you pulled a muscle in your shoulders or something.”  
  
  
“Sure you were,” Tara replied, crossing her arms on the ledge of the tub, “Do you want more hot water or are you ready to get out?”  
  
  
Willow held up her hand and wiggled her wrinkled fingers.  
  
  
“I think I’ve gone right past raison and into Shar Pei territory.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and grabbed the towel, holding it up. Willow stood and pressed the lever between the taps down to raise the plug before letting Tara wrap the towel around her.   
  
  
“Thank you, baby,” she said as she tucked the front in to hold it in place and took Tara’s offered hand to step out of the draining tub.  
  
  
They went back to the main room and Tara continued putting her make-up on while Willow mulled over which dress to wear, eventually settling on the blue one she’d bought during Anya’s ‘intervention’ those months before.  
  
  
She folded out the iron table from the closet and started to iron out the creases that had formed during the flight. When it was crease-free, she dropped her towel and put fresh underwear on, followed by the dress, securing it neatly around her bump.  
  
  
She went into the bathroom to check that the back fell in the right way and once satisfied, picked up the blowdryer hanging from the wall and started to dry her hair.  
  
  
When it was dry enough for her to curl, she left the dryer back in its holder and retrieved her curling iron pouch from the side of the suitcase and walked up to Tara.  
  
  
“Can we switch? I need to curl my hair.”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara replied, coating her lips with a layer of lip gloss before standing, “All yours.”  
  
  
Willow took the seat and plugged her curling iron into the socket. She let it heat up on the heating pad while she started on her make-up and spent the next twenty minutes alternating between her hair and face, never content to be doing just one thing at once.  
  
  
When she was content with how she looked, she stood to once again rearrange her dress and found Tara behind her after a second, wearing a sleek black cocktail dress with a single strap across her left shoulder that gave her ample cleavage and fell to just below her knee.  
  
  
“We look hot,” Tara said with a grin, putting one hand on Willow’s shoulder and sliding it down her arm.  
  
  
Willow pulled the hem of her dress once and grinned back through the mirror.  
  
  
“Smokin’.”  
  
  
Tara let her hand continued to fall to Willow’s hip.  
  
  
“Let’s go burn up the building.”  
  
  
“I don’t think they’d appreciate that,” Willow chuckled, “It just got rebuilt after those psycho kids blew it up, remember?”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly and lifted Willow’s hand to her mouth, kissing her knuckles. Willow inhaled deeply before giving a confident smile and spinning around, taking both of her wife’s hands.  
  
  
“Let’s do this.”


	54. Chapter 54

  
  
Tara remained mute as they entered their eight minute of standing in silence outside of the school, Willow having stopped short of going inside as they approached.  
  
  
No one else had passed them yet, though sounds of music playing could be heard through open windows and Tara could tell that there were probably already quite a few bodies in there.  
  
  
As eight minutes turned to nine and Tara saw goosebumps rise on Willow’s forearms from the light of a street lamp overhead, she moved to stand behind her wife and rubbed her arms up and down.  
  
  
“Sweetie, I understand if you need a few more minutes, but could we just stand inside the doorway? Or let me run back and get you a jacket?”  
  
  
“We can go in,” Willow replied in an absent tone, but made no effort to move.  
  
  
Tara pushed her body into Willow’s back and continued to rub her arms to keep her warm. As more minutes passed and Tara started to worry they’d remain stuck to that spot for the rest of the night, she decided to try and kick things into gear and directed Willow’s attention to a large oak tree about ten feet away from them.  
  
  
“Didn’t you tell me you used to eat lunch by a big tree outside? Was that it?”  
  
  
Willow blinked a few times as she tore her gaze away from the doors to what had been her own personal hell for four years and over to the tree Tara was pointing to. It gave her a familiar sense of warmth and she found herself walking towards it without even meaning to.  
  
  
“Yeah,” she said softly as she felt Tara slip her hand into hers and put her other hand against the bark, “See, if you sat right here, people couldn’t see you when they were walking from the school. I’d eat my banana and read a book.”  
  
  
“I used to read at lunch too,” Tara replied with a fond smile to her wife, “My school library didn’t have very many books though; I must’ve read To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby at least twenty times each. They were falling apart by the time I left. I tried to glue them back to the spine as best I could so the next person could enjoy them.”  
  
  
Willow laid her head on Tara’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Of course you did,” she replied adoringly before kneeling down, taking Tara with her, and pulling away an overgrown piece of grass to reveal a poorly-carved ‘Cordelia Chase sucks’ against the bark, “My one and only rebellion.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled.  
  
  
“You mean before you went off to college and fell in large with the homos?”  
  
  
Willow looked up to Tara and grinned.  
  
  
“Yeah, before that.”  
  
  
They stood again and Willow put her hand back on the tree trunk, patting it.  
  
  
“I never thanked you for being my bodyguard, old tree,” she said in an English accent, which confused Tara.  
  
  
“Why the English accent?”  
  
  
Willow turned to Tara and smiled.  
  
  
“I said ‘old tree’ instead of ‘old bean’.”  
  
  
“Ah,” Tara replied, dropping a kiss on Willow’s cheek, “You’re too smart for me.”  
  
  
“No,” Willow shook her head, “I’m everything in the just the right proportions for you. Even my belly.”  
  
  
“Especially your belly,” Tara replied, dropping a kiss onto Willow’s head, “Ready to go in?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow responded confidently and started walking towards the doors, but once again stopped short, “Before we go in…could we do one more thing?”  
  
  
Tara nodded.  
  
  
“Of course.”  
  
  
Willow silently walked them around the building to the back of the school and across the football field. Tara didn’t say anything, figuring Willow just needed some time to look around and get some air before they went into the reunion until the redhead suddenly stopped at the side of the bleaches and sat on the mound of grass where there was an opening to the underside. She eased herself down, then turned to Tara and motioned her forwards.  
  
  
“I always wanted to make out under the bleachers.”  
  
  
Tara hiked her dress up above her knees and knelt down.  
  
  
“Are you serious?”  
  
  
Willow just grinned and nodded while Tara sighed and started to follow Willow down, everything still visible around them from the illuminated night lights around the field shining in through the slats of the bleachers.  
  
  
“I would have worn a more accommodating dress if I knew I’d be crawling around in the dirt,” she mumbled, brushing herself off as she stood beside Willow, then spotted a beat-up old mattress off to the side, lit up by a variety of different coloured stains, “We are not sitting on that mattress, god only knows what’s been on it.”  
  
  
Willow grabbed Tara’s waist with both hands and pulled her close.  
  
  
“Stop being such an adult.”  
  
  
Tara scoffed and shook her head.  
  
  
“We are thirty-one year old parents–” she started to reason but was cut off a Willow planted a deep kiss on her lips.  
  
  
Tara relaxed after just a moment and put her hands on Willow’s shoulders, her eyes darting over to where the end of the bleachers were, an extra bench on the inside to keep them grounded. She pulled away an inch and nodded in that direction.  
  
  
“That bench looks like it might be free of bodily fluids.”  
  
  
Willow wasn’t quite so sure, but opted not to voice that opinion as she brought Tara over to sit.  
  
  
“Wait, wait, the dirt will show up more on your dress,” Tara said as she wiped an area free, then pulled Willow onto her lap, a small grin playing on her lips, “I hope we don’t get detention for cutting class.”  
  
  
Willow beamed from ear to ear that Tara was playing along with her little game and wrapped her arms around her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“Don’t worry, I’ll sneak us back in.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara whispered and let her eyes flutter closed as Willow’s lips softly descended on her own again.  
  
  
It didn’t take long for their kiss to heat up, the chilly night air only adding to the need to get close to each other, but as soon as Tara felt Willow’s hand move down to rest on the exposed part of her breast, she pulled away and swatted her wife’s hand away.  
  
  
“Baby, please,” Willow moaned throatily, dropping her head into the crook of Tara’s neck, “I love you.”  
  
  
Tara smirked but made no effort to stop her wife.  
  
  
“You’re really getting into the role of the hormonal teenager.”  
  
  
Willow pulled back and pouted.  
  
  
“No, I’m just _actually_ a hormonal pregnant woman,” she replied, blowing a piece of hair that had fallen onto her brow away, before adopting a sultry look, “Come on, I know you’ve still got that exhibitionist streak in you.”  
  
  
Tara exhaled slowly for a moment as she felt a shot of desire jolt through her but shook her head.  
  
  
“We’ll ruin our dresses. And besides, I already told you, you can get up on this,” she replied, motioning down herself before pointing over her shoulder with her thumb, “When you go in and get over that.”  
  
  
Willow sighed and moved to rest her head on Tara’s shoulder, reaching down to entwine their fingers together.  
  
  
“I wish I knew you in high school.”  
  
  
Tara ran her spare hand down Willow’s hair and smiled sadly.  
  
  
“Me too.”  
  
  
Willow’s teeth clenched as she was reminded of exactly what her wife had had to deal with during her high school years and raised her head to look at her, her voice coming out in a choked whisper.  
  
  
“I would’ve saved you.”  
  
  
“Shush, shush, shush,” Tara soothed, bringing Willow’s palm to mouth and repeatedly kissing her skin softly, “You did.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her gaze but Tara quickly raised her chin and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.  
  
  
“We’ve dealt with my demons. Tonight’s about yours.”  
  
  
Willow gave a weak smile and kissed Tara’s cheek.  
  
  
“I’ll be okay. I’ve got an angel by my side.”  
  
  
They shared an affectionate smile for a moment before Tara grinned and scrunched up her nose.  
  
  
“That would’ve been so much more romantic if we weren’t squashed under a row of bleachers.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and put her hands up in defeat.  
  
  
“Okay, okay, we’ll go inside.”  
  
  
She slipped from Tara’s knee and offered her hand for her wife to stand up, using her other to wipe Tara’s butt free of any excess dirt, then led her across the bleachers to the other side where they were able to walk straight out and back onto the football field. Tara looked over her shoulder in disbelief as they left.  
  
  
“If we could’ve just walked in here, why did we jump down from the grass?”  
  
  
Willow grinned and shrugged.  
  
  
“Part of the excitement.”  
  
  
“You’re very lucky I love you,” Tara replied, wrapping her arm around Willow’s waist and playfully squeezing her hip.  
  
  
“I know I am,” Willow responded as they rounded the corner from the football field and back to the front of the school before she chuckled nervously, “Heh. Demons. I guess this makes me walking into my own hellmouth.”  
  
  
Tara watched as someone walked through the doors from the side and heard a fresh burst of music.  
  
  
“Looks like they’re cleverly disguising it as a party.”  
  
  
“They’re tricky like that,” Willow quipped, before taking a deep breath, “Okay, let’s go party like it’s 1999.”  
  
  
Tara’s brow creased in confusion as they walked towards the doors.  
  
  
“You graduated in ’04.”  
  
  
Willow laughed and looked at her wife adoringly as the door was opened for her and she stepped through.  
  
  
“It’s a saying, Tara.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Tara replied, embarrassed, “I never was hip with the lingo.”  
  
  
They followed the signs on the walls to the gymnasium, which Willow was glad for; the gym had been a place she avoided like the plague during her schooling. Outside the entrance to gym, a table was set up with blank name tags and a basket of marker pens to write with.  
  
  
They wrote ‘Willow’ and ‘Tara’ on the stickers and stuck them onto their respective dresses. Willow patted hers down a few times to make sure it was secure and inhaled deeply again.  
  
  
“Here we go.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife a reassuring smile.  
  
  
“Here we go.”  
  
  
They pushed open the doors to the bustling gym already filled with people, decorated with yellow and maroon balloons and banners, the largest of which was over the stage with ‘Class of 2004’ in large letters. There was a table off to the side with different snacks and bowls filled with soda and punch, while Snoop Dogg’s ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ blared loudly over the speaker system.  
  
  
Willow instantly shuddered.  
  
  
“Our high school years, the height of hip-hop.”  
  
  
Tara frowned and shrugged.  
  
  
“I didn’t listen to much music in high school,” she said, though was quite thankful in that moment if the song playing was any indication of what she was missing, “Do you see anyone you know?”  
  
  
Willow looked around and tried to place any of the swarm of faces she saw.  
  
  
“Umm…I think that guy was in Chem club with me.”  
  
  
“Why don’t you go say hi?” Tara asked encouragingly, “Can I get you some punch?”  
  
  
Willow smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“Yes. Thank you.”  
  
  
Tara gave her wife’s shoulder a comforting squeeze and dropped a kiss on her cheek.  
  
  
“I’ll find you,” she said before walking across the room.   
  
  
Willow swung her hands nervously by her side for a moment before deciding to take the plunge and began to make her way across the floor to the man she thought she possibly recognised.   
  
  
She only got halfway there when a voice that had haunted her nightmares for so many years made her stop short as her blood ran cold.  
  
  
“Well if it isn’t Willow Rosen-nerd.”  
  
  
She clenched her fists for a moment and exhaled.  
  
  
“That didn’t take long,” she muttered before spinning around to face the voice, and the two accompanying bodies with it, holding her chin up high, “Cordelia. Hi.”  
  
  
Cordelia, and the two lackeys – one blonde, one brunette – that Willow recognised as her entourage of terror but couldn’t quite recall the names of, all went wide-eyed and physically backed up when they saw the bump.  
  
  
“Wow,” Cordelia said, blinking repeatedly before bringing a single finger up in a ‘hold on’ motion, “Wait up. You actually convinced somebody to have sex with you?”  
  
  
“Yes,” Willow replied confidently, “And they were quite willing.”  
  
  
Cordelia seemed put out that Willow wasn’t cowering to her like she had when they were younger and tossed her hair over one shoulder.  
  
  
“Did your husband only get you pregnant to make an improvement on the whole chest area you’ve got going on?”  
  
  
The blonde lackey – that Willow read her nametag as Harmony and instantly remembered her from the barking way Cordelia used to address her – laughed and pointed at Willow’s chest.  
  
  
“As in, actually giving you one.”  
  
  
Willow dropped her gaze for a moment and smiled to herself, wondering how on earth she’d ever been so terrified to face these people again. It was all gone now. She just felt sad that they hadn’t grown at all in the 13 years since high school that they still had to belittle others to feel better about themselves.  
  
  
She looked back at the three women again and shook her head.  
  
  
“Actually I don’t have a husband.”  
  
  
Cordelia scoffed almost triumphantly.  
  
  
“Ha! Didn’t stick around, huh? Hardy surprised.”  
  
  
Harmony narrowed her eyes.  
  
  
“Then who knocked you up?”  
  
  
“I did,” Tara’s voice came from behind and sidled up beside Willow and handing her a plastic cup of punch.  
  
  
“She did,” Willow confirmed giddily, taking the cup.  
  
  
The other three women’s eyes were wide in shock before Harmony leant over to whisper loudly in Cordelia’s ear.  
  
  
“I should _not_ have cheated off her in Bio if she thinks a woman got her pregnant.”  
  
  
“Shut up, Harmony,” Cordelia hissed before clapping her hands together, “Oh this is too good. I should’ve known no man would ever want you.”  
  
  
“Actually, it was me that didn’t want the man,” Willow replied, Tara nodding along in agreement, “That’s kinda how being gay works. At least, for women.”  
  
  
Tara brought her own cup of punch up to her mouth to hide a snort, then began coughing as soon as she took a sip.  
  
  
“Don’t drink that, there’s alcohol,” she said to Willow, taking her wife’s cup back, “Do you want some soda?”  
  
  
Willow nodded.  
  
  
“Thanks, baby.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and started to walk back in the direction of the drinks, hearing the infamous ‘Cordelia’ continue to address her wife.  
  
  
“Who would’ve thought the softer side of Sears actually had something interesting about her.”  
  
  
She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder, seeing her wife more than able to stand up for herself and smiled to herself as she reached the table. She poured Willow’s punch into her own cup for herself and threw the empty plastic in the nearby trashcan. She had just begun to ladle some orange soda into a new one when she noticed a short man next to her, his nametag reading ‘Jonathan’ getting a cup of punch.  
  
  
“Be careful, it’s spiked,” she warned, making the man peer into his cup, then down it in one go. Tara laughed, “I think it’s one of those nights for everyone.”  
  
  
Jonathan refilled his cup and looked at Tara quizzically.   
  
  
“Did you go here?”  
  
  
Tara smiled and shook her head.  
  
  
“I’m here with someone,” she replied, pointing directly at Willow across the room.  
  
  
Jonathan followed where Tara was pointing and nodded.  
  
  
“Willow Rosenberg,” he said, remembering her from a few of his classes, “She’s put on a pound or two.”  
  
  
Tara shot daggers in his direction.  
  
  
“She’s pregnant.”  
  
  
“Oh,” Jonathan replied, nodding his head along before cocking his head to one side in thought, “You guys are here together?”  
  
  
Tara took a sip of her punch and nodded.  
  
  
“Uh huh.”  
  
  
Jonathan, operating under the assumption that only single ladies would come to a reunion together, smoothed a hand over the back of his hair and slid up beside Tara.  
  
  
“You know, it’s funny, she kind of had a thing for me way back when.”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow, already unimpressed with this man.  
  
  
“Oh really?”  
  
  
“I mean, I was the football team,” Jonathan said cockily, leaving out the fact that he was the water-boy, “I guess she has a thing for athletic men.”  
  
  
Tara once again had to hide a snort, which Jonathan took as a sign that he needed to up the ante and tried to sip his drink casually as he leant back against the table.  
  
  
“I took her out one night. Best night of her life she told me,” he said, his smile pumped with slimy arrogance as he winked at Tara, “I, ah, popped her cherry if you know what I mean. She wanted to come back for more, but hey, I had to spread the love around you know? There’s a piece of Jonathan for everyone.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyebrow couldn’t have risen much further without actually becoming a part of her hair but was stopped from responding directly as Willow appeared beside her, reaching for the cup of orange soda.  
  
  
“Is that my soda? It’s so hot in here.”  
  
  
Jonathan instantly paled, suddenly realising the flaw in his plan to big himself up and tried to back away but Tara spoke up before he had a chance.  
  
  
“Jonathan here was just telling me how you guys knew each other in school.”  
  
  
Willow looked at the man and tried to place him but could only smile apologetically when she couldn’t.  
  
  
“I’m really sorry, I don’t remember you. Did we have classes together?”  
  
  
Jonathan began to stutter and Tara put a hand on Willow’s back.  
  
  
“Willow,” she said in a gently chastising tone, “How can you not remember the boy who ‘popped your cherry’?”  
  
  
Willow choked on the sip of soda she’d taken and looked between Tara and Jonathan wide-eyed for a few moments before bursting into laughter.  
  
  
“Oh buddy. Next time you’re going to lie about taking someone’s virginity,” she said to Jonathan, then waggled her finger at Tara, “Don’t do it in front of the person who actually took it.”  
  
  
Jonathan’s mouth hung open and he looked slightly interested and aroused for a moment before thinking better of it and began to scramble away.  
  
  
“Bye,” he squeaked before making a beeline for the other end of the room and as far away as possible.  
  
  
Willow watched him leave for a moment before dropping her head to Tara’s chest and giggling.  
  
  
“He really told you that?” she asked, looking up at her wife.  
  
  
“He really did,” Tara confirmed with a short nod, “You were obsessed with him apparently.”  
  
  
Willow snorted.  
  
  
“The only thing I was obsessed with in high school was my GPA and hiding my posters of Halle Berry and Kate Hudson in swimsuits. Why would he tell you that?”  
  
  
Tara grinned crookedly and took a sip from her cup.  
  
  
“I think he was trying to impress his way into my pants.”  
  
  
“Did he know we came together?” Willow asked and got an answering nod, “So even if he thought you were single…didn’t see your wedding ring apparently… and straight, he used me, someone you would undoubtedly check his story with as an opportunity to lie his way into my wife dropping her panties?”  
  
  
Tara winked and blew a kiss to Willow.  
  
  
“Your wife’s panties aren’t going to drop for anyone but you.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and blushed just as a tall, bottle-blonde woman approached them and looked at Willow curiously.  
  
  
“Willow Rosenberg?”  
  
  
“It’s Rosenberg-Maclay now,” Willow replied, taking Tara’s hand, wanting to make sure there was no more confusion that night about her marital status and who exactly she was married to, “But yes, that’s me.”  
  
  
The woman threw her hands in the air with a smile.  
  
  
“Jenna Chambers! We were in AP English together.”  
  
  
“Oh my god, hi!” Willow greeted, suddenly remembering exactly who the woman was, “We did an assignment together junior year. ‘Jane Eyre, from Governess to Girl Bride’, right?”  
  
  
Jenna laughed.  
  
  
“Good memory.”  
  
  
“She doesn’t forget a thing,” Tara replied with a smile between the two women.  
  
  
“Although not so much lately,” Willow added with a hand on her belly in indication before motioning towards Tara, “This is my wife, Tara.”  
  
  
Jenna looked momentarily surprised but didn’t hesitate to shake Tara’s hand before she and Willow started reminiscing about some shared classes they’d had until Jenna spotted another face she recognised and excused herself to go talk to them.  
  
  
“How did things go with the three stooges?” Tara asked as she refilled hers and Willow’s drinks.  
  
  
“More like dumb, dumber and dumbest,” Willow replied with a roll of her eyes, “Cordelia married one of the meanest kids there was here, Larry. Jokes on her though, because I’m pretty sure he’s gay.”  
  
  
Tara shot a stern look in her wife’s direction.  
  
  
“Willow.”  
  
  
“What?” Willow asked defensively, “From one small-town gay kid to another, he always made me ping.”  
  
  
“You can’t assume something like that about anyone,” Tara replied, shaking her head to herself, “And I meant how did things go with _you_ and them?”  
  
  
Willow smiled warmly to herself.  
  
  
“For the first time ever with them…I actually felt bigger being the bigger person.”  
  
  
Tara handed Willow her cup and wrapped an arm around her waist.  
  
  
“That’s my girl.”  
  
  
“She’s your girl,” Willow replied, putting one hand against her stomach, then gave a sly smile, “I’m your woman.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and squeezed Willow’s hip.  
  
  
“Yes you are.”  
  
  
Not long after that, the now-principal, who had been vice-principal when Willow was in school, stood up and delivered the standard speech welcoming everyone back and talking about how the school had changed in the years since they’d been gone. Willow tuned out when the football coach stood up to say a few words as well and the room began to change into a pep rally; with the jocks, now with balding hair and beer bellies started yelling like Neanderthals.  
  
  
She felt Tara move behind her and start to rub her neck and shot a grateful smile over her shoulder until the speeches finally stopped and the music returned.   
  
  
“I should’ve broken these shoes in before wearing them tonight,” Tara commented, continuing to rub Willow’s inner shoulder with one hand while the other reached down to adjust her stiletto, “Do you mind if I go sit for a while?”  
  
  
“Not at all,” Willow replied, turning to face Tara, then nodded off to the side, “I see some fellow mathletes I can go talk to.”  
  
  
Tara looked over to where Willow had indicated and saw a group of three guys and one girl talking and laughing together.  
  
  
“Did you get on well with them?”  
  
  
Willow grinned and stuck her tongue out between her teeth.  
  
  
“I dunno, some of them could be a bit irrational.”  
  
  
Tara smiled crookedly.  
  
  
“Tell them to get real.”  
  
  
Willow scrunched up her nose, still grinning.  
  
  
“I couldn’t love you more,” she said, leaning over to kiss Tara’s nose, “And yet every day, I do.”  
  
  
Tara reached down to her aching shin again.  
  
  
“Will you love me enough to give me a foot rub later?”  
  
  
Willow laughed and nodded,  
  
  
“You bet. Go sit. I’ll come find you for a dance in a bit.”  
  
  
She kissed Tara’s cheek again and walked off towards the group while Tara went to the wall opposite where a few loose chairs and a stool were located. She swung herself onto the stool and bent down to slip the back of one of her stiletto’s off, rubbing the back of her ankle.  
  
  
She didn’t notice the tall, dark-haired man who was leaning against the wall nearby until he straightened up and approached her; the height of the stool meaning they were at eyelevel with each other.  
  
  
“Hey, I remember you,” he said, mistaking her for anyone of the gaggle of women that had flocked around him in high school, as came with the territory of being the football quarterback. He peered at her nametag, “Tara.”  
  
  
Tara continued to rub her ankle and shook her head.  
  
  
“I don’t think you do.”  
  
  
The man folded his arms across his chest, looking curious.  
  
  
“Didn’t I cheat off you in history?”  
  
  
Tara sighed and once again shook her head.  
  
  
“I don’t think so.”  
  
  
“No, I did!” the man responded emphatically, figuring if he hadn’t ‘had’ this girl in high school then he might have a chance now, “It’s Percy.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes narrowed as she recognised the name as one of her wife’s past tormentors. She secured her shoe on her foot again as she straightened up.  
  
  
“Percy West?”  
  
  
“Yeah!” he replied enthusiastically, before both of their attention was called away to the side as the sound of Willow’s loud and happy laugh filled the room.  
  
  
Tara smiled lovingly in her direction, wondering what math joke had been shared to get her to laugh that loudly, but it quickly turned into a frown as Percy nudged her side.  
  
  
“Hey, did you hear she’s a dyke now? Talk of the reunion.”  
  
  
Tara set her jaw in irritation.  
  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
  
Percy nodded, grinning as if he was sharing the most interesting piece of gossip.  
  
  
“Full blown carpet muncher! Apparently she married a chick and everything.”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes and went back to rubbing her ankle; her foot worth more of her concentration than this Percy guy.  
  
  
“Yes, I know.”  
  
  
“I didn’t even know they could do that,” Percy continued, oblivious to Tara’s irritation “Hey, if I’d known she was down with the lady-lovin’ in high school I wouldn’t have made fun of her so much and tried to get in on that action.”  
  
  
Tara slipped her shoe back on, ready to get up and away from Percy but only managed to plant her feet on the floor when he started again.  
  
  
“Although I dunno if I could’ve resisted. Carrying around like 20 books all at once, that’s prime tripping material,” he said, beginning to laugh uncontrollably to himself, “She fell for it every time. We’d call her over and right as she’d get close, bam, stick my foot out and over she goes.”  
  
  
Anger was not an emotion Tara felt very often. Rage was something she felt never. But in that moment the only way she could describe what she was feeling was unbridled fury, that in a less self-contained person would have resulted in a punch being thrown already.   
  
  
However Tara had never raised a hand to anyone in anger, and never would. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t; it went against everything she was and everything she’d fought so hard to be free from.  
  
  
That didn’t mean she was about to let Percy get away with what he was saying though. She very calmly, in complete contrast to how she was feeling on the inside, raised her cup and poured it squarely over his head.  
  
  
Percy spluttered in shock and started wiping his face.  
  
  
“This is a rental suit!”  
  
  
The room quietened to silence over the next five seconds as everyone’s attention focused on the scene playing out and Tara felt a presence beside her after just a moment and the feel of familiar soft fingertips on her shoulder.  
  
  
“Tara, are you okay?” Willow asked, having rushed over.  
  
  
Tara remained focused on Percy and fixed him with a look that told him she was not to be messed with.  
  
  
“Don’t you ever. _Ever_. Even mention my wife’s name again.”  
  
  
Percy gulped as he looked between the two women and finally realised who he was speaking to and started nervously playing with his tie.   
  
  
Willow wasn’t quite sure what had happened but had only seen the look Tara had in her eyes a handful of times, and only ever in defence of her. She dropped her hand and pulled at two of Tara’s fingers.  
  
  
“Baby, come on.”  
  
  
Tara scrunched up the plastic cup in her hand and threw it at Percy’s chest before letting Willow lead her down the room and out the double doors to the hallway. Once there she folded her arms across her chest and leant back against the wall.  
  
  
“Is every guy you were in school with a complete jackass?”  
  
  
“No,” Willow shook her head, brushing the back of her fingers against Tara’s cheek, “Just the ones who nobody _actually_ liked and therefore had no one to talk to tonight. Can’t blame them for approaching the most beautiful woman in the room.”  
  
  
Tara frowned but leant into Willow’s touch.  
  
  
“I can blame them for completely disrespecting you. He said he’d trip you and laugh?” she said, shaking her head for a moment before taking both of Willow’s hands and looking at her apologetically, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”  
  
  
Willow put a single finger against Tara’s lips.  
  
  
“Don’t apologise to me, you didn’t do anything wrong. C’mere.”  
  
  
She pressed her lips against Tara’s and lingered for a few moments before pulling away and offering her hand.  
  
  
“My dance?” she asked sweetly, “Quick, while there’s a song without rapping in it.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as they walked back into the room and straight onto the dance-floor where Willow wrapped her arms around her wife’s neck and Tara let her hands settle either side of Willow’s hips.  
  
  
They began to sway softly to the slow ballad that was playing and Tara was all too aware of the numerous sets of eyes that were focused on them.  
  
  
“Everybody’s staring,” she whispered, awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.  
  
  
Willow just smiled at Tara; not giving anyone but her wife an ounce of her attention.  
  
  
“Let them.”


	55. Chapter 55

  
  
“I have to get the key in door.”  
  
  
Willow giggled from behind Tara as she kissed the back of her neck and watched her wife try to slot the card into the opening in the door of their hotel room.  
  
  
“I’m not stopping you.”  
  
  
Tara sighed as she once again failed to open to the door.  
  
  
“You’re distracting me.”  
  
  
Willow brought her hand up and covered Tara’s.  
  
  
“You just slip it in,” she whispered, guiding her wife’s hand to insert the card, then pulled it out to a green light of indication that it had worked, “And out.”  
  
  
Tara let out a shaky breath as she pushed the door handle down and stepped over the threshold.  
  
  
“You don’t know what you’re doing to me.”  
  
  
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” Willow replied in an alluring tone as she closed the door behind them before suddenly grabbing her side and groaning, “Eurgh. Baby bladder.”  
  
  
Tara walked over to the bed as Willow disappeared into the bathroom and kicked off her shoes with a relieved sigh. She scooted up so she was leaning against the headboard and bent her knee sideways so her foot was in her lap so she could begin to massage the red, imprinted spots from where her new shoes had pinched too much.  
  
  
Willow returned from the bathroom, squeezing her hands together to rub in the lotion she’d just applied from the little bottle beside the sink and moved onto the bed beside Tara when she saw what her wife was doing.  
  
  
“Hey, I believe I promised I’d do that.”  
  
  
She pushed herself up and took Tara’s feet in her lap just below her bump, taking over the role of masseuse.   
  
  
“You don’t have to,” Tara said, though instinctively curled her toes in pleasure as Willow rubbed her sore feet.  
  
  
Willow smiled up at her wife as she dug her thumbs into the soles of her feet.  
  
  
“I have been endlessly taking foot-rubs and backrubs and any and all kind of rubs since I got pregnant but I haven’t been much with the returning.”  
  
  
Tara closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.  
  
  
“You’re my wife. And you’re pregnant. That entitles you to my hands wherever you want, whenever you want.”  
  
  
Willow smirked to herself and continued to rub Tara’s feet for a few moments before sidling up beside her and waited for her eyes to open.  
  
  
“Then I think they should be taking my dress off.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head and moved forwards so her lips were almost, but not quite, brushing Willow’s.  
  
  
“Oh really?”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Willow murmured, moving as if she was going to close the gap before slipping her legs off the side of the bed and gathering her hair to one side.  
  
  
She felt Tara sit behind her, her legs dangling off the bed either side of the redhead’s waist, and begin to trail kisses along her shoulder blade as the zipper on her dress was drawn down her back agonisingly slowly.  
  
  
She tilted her head to one side in offering as Tara slid her hands down her shoulders to assist the straps in falling down her arms and off her chest. Tara ran her fingertips down Willow’s sides as her lips moved in on the delicate piece of skin where the redhead’s neck met her shoulder and encouraged her wife to raise her hips to get the dress the rest of the way of.  
  
  
Willow felt her breath quicken as Tara rested her hands on her outer thighs and used her own foot to push the back of the redhead’s shoes from each of her ankles as her hands squeezed their way up to Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“Tara,” she moaned softly as her wife kissed and caressed her skin until she felt herself being encouraged back into a lying position against the mattress, her head lying comfortably against the pillows as Tara lay alongside her.  
  
  
She watched as Tara smiled down at her in that special way that gave her butterflies before leaning over to kiss her softly.   
  
  
Tara moved her lips with an ever-increasing urgency against Willow’s as the redhead’s hands moved to her neck and pulled her as close as possible.   
  
  
“It was really sexy when you…” Willow mumbled between quick breaths of air taken in brief moments of separated, “Defended my honour earlier.”  
  
  
“Nobody messes with my girl,” Tara said back through a breath before fully pulling away an inch with a grin, “Woman.”  
  
  
Willow grinned back and pushed herself up on her elbows.  
  
  
“Your woman is wondering why there’s still clothing on our bodies.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her mouth against Willow’s ear and brushed her lips against her wife’s lobe.  
  
  
“That sounds like a problem I can fix,” she whispered as she moved behind Willow and put a hand on the back of her bra, frowning as she struggled to unclasp the 8 separate hooks, “Jeez, how many hooks are on this thing?”  
  
  
Willow looked over her shoulder to Tara.  
  
  
“It’s s nursing bra, the midwife said it was a good idea to get used to them,” she replied, arching her back forward in the hopes it would ease the removal of the garment, “Sorry.”  
  
  
“It’s okay,” Tara replied with a grin of victory as she undid the last hook, “Makes me feel like I’ve earned it.”  
  
  
She swung around to face Willow again and pulled the bra from her body, throwing it over her shoulder. She took a lusty look at her wife’s exposed chest before placing a palm flat between her breasts to encourage her to lie back down and moved her hands to the waistband of Willow’s panties, pulling them down and off her legs.  
  
  
She twirled them around her finger for a moment, making Willow giggle and blush, before letting them fall to the floor and ran her hands down her wife’s thighs.  
  
  
“I think this fixes the problem.”  
  
  
Willow put her hands behind her and pushed herself up to a sitting position with some effort.  
  
  
“No, no, no,” she replied with an emphatic shake of her head, pulling at the single strap of Tara’s dress, “Let me get this thing off you and then we’ll be getting somewhere.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara murmured as Willow pressed their lips together and slipped her hands behind her back.  
  
  
She held Willow by the waist as she slipped her tongue into her wife’s mouth and felt hands roam around her back for several minutes before finally pulling away in annoyance.  
  
  
“Where the hell is the zipper?”  
  
  
Tara lifted up one arm to reveal the zipper down her side and Willow quickly yanked it down, then snapped the strap back and pulled the dress over her wife’s head to leave her in just her matching black bra and panties.   
  
  
“That’s what I like to see,” she said as she ran her hands down Tara’s sides from under her bra to just above her panties and dropped her head into Tara’s chest, “Mmhh and this is definitely what I like to feel.”  
  
  
She kissed the tops of Tara’ breasts and pushed her fingers in on the small of her back, occasionally dipping below the waistband of her panties to take generous squeezes of the flesh there.  
  
  
Tara lolled her head back and let out a quiet moan as Willow’s lips followed the curve of her bra around her chest and up to her shoulder, right across her throat and down again.  
  
  
“Oh!” she whispered in a gasp as she felt her skin electrify with each touch of her wife’s lips.  
  
  
She could feel her nipples hardening uncomfortably against the fabric restraints and longed for them to be free, but when Willow just continued in the same route around, she took the initiative and reached behind herself to snap the hooks of her bra open, throwing her arms to the side so it flung from her body.  
  
  
She felt Willow pause against her collarbone and a hand move from her back to just above her left breast, slowly dropping until it was cupping the firm flesh. Willow’s lips took a leap up to Tara’s jaw, turning to nibble on her ear lobe before swooping around to capture the blonde’s lips, her other hand shooting her wife’s neck and into her hair to pull them closer together.  
  
  
Tara willingly opened her mouth for her wife’s questing tongue as she felt it hit against her teeth and moaned into the kiss as Willow greedily palmed her breast, rolling her nipple between deft fingers.  
  
  
Willow dug her fingertips into the back of Tara’s neck and had to stop herself from pushing their bodies flush together, knowing it was impossible with the bump between them and would probably only result in her knocking Tara right off the bed.   
  
  
She moved her hands down to forcefully grab Tara’s waist as their kiss surged in heat and intensity and grinned as she pulled her wife’s tongue into her mouth and tugged the sides of her panties down to her knees before they fell back onto the bed.  
  
  
“Careful,” Tara said as she made sure to fall to the side of Willow, dragging her teeth along her bottom lip in a grin as she reached down to pull her panties completely off and threw them with the rest of the pile of clothes on the floor.  
  
  
“Careful?” Willow asked with a giggle, turning her head into Tara’s neck and licking her pulse point, “Why, you worried you’ll get me pregnant?”  
  
  
“Uh uh,” Tara shook her head and grinned again, “I don’t want no baby mama drama.”  
  
  
Willow snorted against Tara’s neck and pulled away, a hand covering her mouth.  
  
  
“Where did you even hear that?”  
  
  
“It was in a movie,” Tara laughed as she put a hand on Willow’s cheek and brushed some hair behind her ear before leaning down to take her lips again.  
  
  
Willow murmured a noise of approval as she felt Tara’s tongue start to push its way into her mouth and a hand dropped to her chest, lightly massaging her breast. She ran her own hand down Tara’s arm and onto her hip, curling over the curve of her wife’s buttock; unable to contain a moan as her fingers splayed out over the soft flesh.   
  
  
Tara continued to kiss Willow deeply, feeling every ounce of need they were both experiencing as a throbbing sensation between her legs until the allure of the hardening nipples against her palm became too much and she moved down to take the puckering flesh in her mouth.  
  
  
Willow arched her back as Tara circled around the protruding nub with her tongue and squeezed her legs together to contain the rush of desire she felt flowing out of her.  
  
  
“Mmhh, baby, you’re making me so wet,” she groaned, clenching her jaw as she felt her abdomen tighten with each jolt of need Tara was sending through her before slamming her hand repeatedly against the mattress, “Up here, now.”  
  
  
Tara didn’t waste any time in complying with her wife’s wish and moved back to take Willow’s lips passionately. Willow responded for several long moments, unable to resist being physically connected to her wife, before pulling away an inch, her cheeks flushed.  
  
  
“I meant further.”  
  
  
Tara wiped some hair from Willow’s brow with the back of her fingers.  
  
  
“That won’t cause a strain, will it?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head and grinned.  
  
  
“The only way it’s going to cause a strain is if I try to sit on you.”  
  
  
Tara blushed but with a smile and reached above them to the headboard above the bed, pulling at a slat.  
  
  
“Sturdy headboard.”  
  
  
“You’re gonna need it,” Willow replied with a mischievous glint in her eye.  
  
  
Tara moved her face close to Willow’s.  
  
  
“That sounds like a promise.”  
  
  
“It is,” Willow whispered before closing the small gap and sucked Tara’s bottom lip for a few moments, then pulled away and looked at her expectantly.  
  
  
Tara dropped another quick kiss on Willow’s lips before sitting back on her heels and throwing one leg over her wife’s chest so she was kneeling either side of her and started to move forward to get into the right position.  
  
  
Willow happily enjoyed the view as Tara got comfortable on top of her and licked her lips as she saw her wife’s arousal spilling out from her wanton pink flesh onto her thighs.  
  
  
Tara settled herself with her thighs framing Willow’s face and looked down to catch her wife’s eye.  
  
  
“You can just…slap my butt if you need me to move.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and stuck her tongue out between her teeth.  
  
  
“We’re gonna need a different signal ‘cause I’m gonna be slapping your butt anyway,” she replied, making Tara blush, “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Are you comfy?”  
  
  
Tara gave a crooked smile and nodded.  
  
  
“Very.”  
  
  
“Okay then,” Willow whispered, placing her hands on the back of Tara’s thighs right below her butt and pulled her down the last inch to meet her tongue.  
  
  
Tara let out a quiet gasp at the first feel of Willow’s tongue in her heated core and placed her palms flat on her own outer thighs. She felt a series of shivers run up her spine as Willow gently explored her and gave some light attention to her clit.  
  
  
“Mmhh, Willow,” she moaned as her wife flicked over her pleasure nub, making her thighs shake, before Willow suddenly took a firm hold of her buttocks and plunged her tongue deep inside her, “Oh!”  
  
  
She felt a surge of wetness flow out of her and began to push her hips forward in the same rhythm as Willow was pulling her. She brought one hand up to press against the wall above her head to give herself some more control while the other gripped the headboard tightly to keep herself steady.  
  
  
“I’m going to go a little faster, okay?” she called down to Willow through a high-pitched moan and looked down to see her wife nodding eagerly.  
  
  
She began to gyrate her hips more enthusiastically and bit down on her bottom lip to contain the sounds threatening to escape as her body filled with warm pleasure until she felt one of Willow’s hands move off of her. She knew what was coming but it still made her simultaneously giggle and moan as Willow brought her hand down hard on her butt cheek.  
  
  
“Oh, Willow, you’re going to make me–”  
  
  
Willow knew how the sentence was going to conclude but didn’t give Tara a chance to get it out as she curled her tongue and found the spongy spot inside her wife that made her jolt.   
  
  
She heard Tara whimper and felt the thighs either side of her face start to quake before she watched her wife throw her head back and grab the headboard with both hands, making it bang loudly against the wall.  
  
  
Willow jumped slightly in surprise as she felt the reverberations from the thud but kept her mouth on task and a firm grip on Tara’s buttocks so she would stay in place. She enjoyed the sight of Tara’s heaving chest above her until she noticed a flush running between her wife’s breasts and closed her eyes to savour what she knew was about to happen.  
  
  
Tara felt her abdomen begin to bubble with overwhelming pleasure and lost herself completely in the sensations engulfing her until it finally burst from her through a long, guttural moan.  
  
  
Her head remained thrown back as she became aware of her breathing again and her hands fell back to her thighs. She felt Willow continue to stroke her sated flesh and her fingertips dancing along her lower back, making fresh tingles ripple through her skin.  
  
  
She revelled in the satisfaction and warmth for a minute or two as she gathered some strength back in her limbs before lifting herself off of Willow and turned around to sit on the bed, sliding herself down until she was lying with her head against the pillows.  
  
  
She turned her feet in towards each other and curled her toes as she let out a satisfied sigh before looking over to Willow and giggling.  
  
  
“You look like a glazed doughnut.”  
  
  
“Those are your favourite kind,” Willow replied with a grin, leaning over to leave a wet kiss on Tara’s shoulder before absently wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.  
  
  
Tara slotted her fingers together on top of her stomach and stretched her arms downwards before a shudder suddenly ran up her, bringing with it another burst of pleasure.  
  
  
“Are you cold?” Willow asked, mistaking the shudder as a chill in her wife and pushed herself up on the back of her hands so she could reach for the second blanket lying across the end of the bed.  
  
  
Tara reached out and ran a single finger down Willow’s spine before sitting up as well so she was kneeling behind the redhead. She brushed her wife’s hair to one side and dropped her lips into the crook of her neck.  
  
  
“I’m not cold,” she whispered, leaving butterfly kisses along her shoulder blade, “I’m actually quite warm.”  
  
  
Willow pulled her hand back from the blanket and tilted her neck to one side.  
  
  
“You know something, me too.”  
  
  
“You are?” Tara asked, running her hand down Willow’s side to squeeze her hip, “Think I could get you…hot?”  
  
  
Willow moaned quietly as Tara’s fingers brushed against her thigh.  
  
  
“Definitely.”  
  
  
She spread her legs as she felt fingertips creep inside her thigh and let out a shaky breath as Tara brushed over her downy hairs.  
  
  
“Mmhh, baby,” she moaned as Tara dipped into her folds and she turned her head back to meet her wife’s eye, “I still get your hands whenever, wherever, right?”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara replied a sultry smile, pressing her lips against the back of Willow’s ear.  
  
  
Willow’s eyelids fluttered in pleasure for a few moments as Tara lightly rubbed over her clit before trying to focus her glassy eyes on her wife.   
  
  
She reached for Tara’s hand and pushed it down further.  
  
  
“Inside me.”  
  
  
She let her hand fall away and moaned as Tara teased her entrance for a few moments before gasping sharply when two fingers thrust inside her.  
  
  
Tara moved her hand in time with Willow’s rolling hips, thrusting as deeply as she could manage as she gave her wife’s neck steady attention.   
  
  
She quickened her pace in response to her wife’s increasing moans until she heard what sounded like an uncomfortable whimper and felt Willow drop her full body weight against her a moment later.  
  
  
“Are you okay?” she asked, pausing her movements, “Is this hurting your back?”  
  
  
Willow groaned and tried to forcibly get Tara’s hand moving again with her hips.  
  
  
“Don’t stop.”  
  
  
“I’m not, I’m not,” Tara reassured, keeping her hand in place as she used her spare arm and body to encourage Willow down onto her side, securing herself behind her and bending the redhead’s top knee forwards, “Is this better?”  
  
  
Willow let out a soft sigh of relief as Tara started to move inside her again.  
  
  
“Yes.”  
  
  
She shuffled slightly more onto her side so the weight of her stomach was falling onto the mattress and put one hand flat against the sheet, clutching it as Tara sent her spiralling into an abyss of pleasure.  
  
  
“More,” she managed to groan out between the wordless cries of ecstasy, her fingernails digging into the sheet when Tara slipped another finger inside her.  
  
  
“Does that feel good?” Tara whispered seductively, seeing Willow nod breathlessly against the pillows, “Tell me.”  
  
  
“Feels…good…” Willow panted, heat soaring through her abdomen and up to her chest, “So…good.”  
  
  
Tara began to roll her hips against Willow’s behind to put more power behind her thrusts. Willow let out a low moan each time they connected, then stretched her arm behind herself to clutch Tara’s head.  
  
  
“Tara…Tara…Tarraaaa…”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Less than a foot and an annoyingly thin wall away, Cordelia Chase, or Blaisdell as she had become to be known, wrapped her pillow around her ears and scowled in the direction of the noises before kicking the shin of the snoring husband who hadn’t touched her in years, in pure annoyance.   
  
  
Larry just snorted loudly and turned onto his side away from her.  
  
  
Cordelia clenched her teeth as she heard some playful giggling come through the wall and wondered how this reunion night had managed to go so far from her expectations.   
  
  
She was supposed to be the belle of the ball. She had the model businessman husband, the _expensive_ home and the charmed life that everyone around her envied her for.   
  
  
She was _perfect_.  
  
  
Even the stupid lackeys she had in high school still followed her around like a couple of lost puppies.   
  
  
Yet somehow, she was lying in bed with a man she had come to loathe and be loathed by, hearing the sounds of what a real happy couple sounded like, and not for the first time had to stop herself from reaching out to bang on the wall or call down to make a noise complaint.  
  
  
She was not about to make it known that she was in the position she was in right then.  
  
  
There was no way she’d let anyone know, ever, that she was jealous of Willow Rosenberg.


	56. Chapter 56

Tara inhaled deeply as she felt sunlight hit the back of her eyelids and instinctively brought her hands up to cover her face as her subconscious fought against being pulled from slumber.  
  
  
She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand while reaching out with the other to try and find Willow’s body; sluggishly looking over at the other side of the bed when she felt nothing.  
  
  
She frowned when she saw it empty and scanned the room until her gaze settled on Willow sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, some toiletries and her hairbrush scattered on the circular table beside her. Her hair was wet and tousled as if it had just been washed and she was sitting in a hotel robe, opened around her mid-section but still covering her.  
  
  
Willow looked up when she felt Tara’s eyes on her.  
  
  
“Hey sleepy,” Willow greeted warmly as she squirted some stretch-mark cream into her hands and started to rub it into her stomach, “You were right, amazing shower. Whenever we build that en-suite we were talking about, can we get one of those really great power showers?”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly and stretched her limbs beneath the blanket.  
  
  
“You mean the ones with those nozzles everywhere? The butt ticklers?”  
  
  
Willow giggled and grinned.  
  
  
“Yeah, those.”  
  
  
Tara stretched her palms out behind her and pushed herself up into a sitting position, turning her neck from side to side.  
  
  
“But then there’ll be no point in me getting in the shower with you to tickle your butt.”  
  
  
Willow threw a wink in Tara’s direction.  
  
  
“There can never be too much butt tickling.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her chin against her chest and grinned before casting a glance to the digital clock above the television display.  
  
  
“You’re up before me,” she commented curiously, “That hasn’t happened in, oh, about…30 weeks. Did you sleep okay?”  
  
  
“I did,” Willow replied, rubbing some extra cream into a few stubborn areas, “I just kinda woke up early…thinking.”  
  
  
Tara frowned and sat up fully, holding the sheet against her naked chest.  
  
  
“That sounds serious.”  
  
  
“No, I mean they were good thoughts,” Willow shrugged to herself, “About how well last night went.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded but was stopped from responding as Willow continued.  
  
  
“I’ve had all these…notions in my head for years that this place, this town, these people were part of my past that I would never return to. But they had this part of my brain, taking up my thoughts and emotions and I realised I was letting them control me,” she said calmly, examining her stomach to make sure the cream was all rubbed in, then tied the robe again and smiled over at Tara, “But I’m not gonna let them control me anymore. They really are part of my past and they can stay there, but I’m not afraid of any of it and I am a better person for having dealt with it all.”  
  
  
Tara smiled adoringly over at Willow.  
  
  
“That’s very wise.”  
  
  
Willow gave a small nod and stood up; making sure her robe was secure before walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge beside Tara. She met her wife’s gaze and appeared contemplative for a few seconds before speaking.  
  
  
“Which is why I think I need to go see my mother.”  
  
  
To say Tara was shocked was an understatement, but her face remained neutral and she nodded repeatedly while she thought of how to respond, but after several long moments still wasn’t sure.  
  
  
“Okay.”  
  
  
Willow saw Tara’s hesitance and dropped her head her with a sigh.  
  
  
“She doesn’t consider me her daughter. I know that. But I guess I’ve always thought, well, she just hates the idea of what I am. She knew me before I told her I was gay, right? And she didn’t hate me then. I mean, I never felt like I was her number one or anything, but she wasn’t so anti-me. Maybe…maybe if she saw me, being me, with you, and everything we are, she won’t hate the reality as much as she hates the idea,” she gushed in a tone filled with almost child-like hope before sighing again as she nervously circled her hands in her lap, “That was a lot of words.”  
  
  
Tara reached for one of Willow’s hands and squeezed it.  
  
  
“I think that’s incredibly brave.”  
  
  
Willow lifted her gaze and shrugged one shoulder.  
  
  
“She might not even be there. I mean, if she works anything like she used to, chances are she won’t even be at the house and it’ll all be a futile effort. But I think I owe it to myself to try,” she explained, covering the hand Tara had extended to her with both of her own, “I can’t have the door ajar anymore, bothering me with its annoying creek. I need to open it for use, or shut it completely and life my live in the other rooms.”  
  
  
She closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to figure whether she was saying correctly what she was thinking.  
  
  
“That was a metaphor.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“I know.”  
  
  
Willow opened her eyes again with a quiet smile.  
  
  
“A bad one.”  
  
  
Tara brought her hand up to Willow’s cheek and tapped her fingertips against her jaw.  
  
  
“Which room am I?”  
  
  
Willow turned her head and pressed her lips against Tara’s palm.  
  
  
“You’re the whole house.”  
  
  
Tara placed her palm flat on Willow’s cheek and ran her thumb over her skin before leaning forwards to softly kiss her lips. She lingered for several moments before pulling away and nuzzling their noses together affectionately.  
  
  
“Would you like me to come with you?”  
  
  
Willow nodded right away.  
  
  
“I don’t want her to know me as anything but your wife and mother of your children. That’s who I am, first and foremost.”  
  
  
“Okay,” Tara reassured, “I’ll be there, every step of the way. When did you want to…?”  
  
  
“Now?” Willow asked, almost uncertainly, “I mean, our flight back tomorrow is kind of early and I don’t really want to be sitting around with my thoughts all day.”  
  
  
Tara grinned and clutched the sheet closer to herself.  
  
  
“Can I shower first? I don’t think bed-head and smelling like sex with her daughter is how I want to meet my mother-in-law for the first time.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and nodded so Tara slipped from the bed with a quick kiss against her wife’s cheek and made her way into the bathroom.   
  
  
Once both women were dressed and ready, they made their way to the restaurant of the hotel to grab some breakfast, though Willow mostly just pushed her eggs around the plate until Tara encouraged her to have a few bites, even just for the baby’s sake.  
  
  
When they were finished they walked out to the parking lot and Willow walked around in a lap once to calm her nerves before deeming herself able to get the car. She guided Tara along the streets of Sunnydale to get to the street she grew up on and inhaled deeply when she started to recognise some of the houses.  
  
  
“Next left,” she instructed, nervously biting the skin on the side of her thumb as they turned onto said street, “Second last house.”  
  
  
Tara pulled up on the curb outside the house she’d been directed and turned the engine off.  
  
  
“Nice house.”  
  
  
“Yep,” Willow nodded, slowly eradicating herself of any and all skin around her fingers, “It is.”  
  
  
Tara reached for Willow’s hand and pulled it away from her face.  
  
  
“Remember what I said.”  
  
  
“I know,” Willow replied, never taking her eye from the house, “It’s just a building. Just. A. Building.”  
  
  
Tara wasn’t sure what to say so just continued to hold her wife’s hand and offered her silent support until Willow suddenly snatched her hand away and started shaking them in front of herself in fear.  
  
  
“I don’t know that I should do this.”  
  
  
“Okay, okay, that’s no problem,” Tara replied quickly, putting a hand on Willow’s knee, “We don’t have to.”  
  
  
“I don’t know, I don’t know what to do,” Willow replied in an obviously panicked tone, “Tell me what to do.”  
  
  
“I can’t tell you this, sweetie,” Tara replied apologetically, reaching out to turn Willow’s head towards her, “Listen to your heart.”  
  
  
Willow eyes crinkled and she looked dejected.  
  
  
“I just asked her.”  
  
  
Tara stroked Willow’s cheek and moved so their foreheads rested together, looking helplessly at her wife for a moment before taking her chin in her hands and kissing her forehead, then captured her lips, tenderly and deeply.  
  
  
Willow felt her faith and self-confidence restored as Tara kissed her and pulled her in closer for a few moments before pulling back just an inch, keeping their foreheads together.  
  
  
“Okay,” she breathed, nodding slightly, “I can do this. We can do this.”  
  
  
Tara nodded back, knowing Willow could feel it and squeezed her hand.  
  
  
“We can drive around the block a couple of times; we can come back later…”  
  
  
Willow pulled away and shook her head, pushing the button to free her seatbelt.  
  
  
“No, I want to do it now,” she replied determinedly, “All I can do is extend the olive branch. If she doesn’t want to grab on, no loss to me. I couldn’t be happier with the family we have. Come on, it’s now or never.”  
  
  
Willow was out the door without another word and Tara had to be quick to follow her; she was moving with incredible speed for a woman who was seven months pregnant. Tara caught up to her at the gate leading into the house and took her hand as they walked through and up to the front porch.  
  
  
Willow lifted her hand to the doorbell and hovered for a moment, before taking the plunge and pressing her finger against it for several seconds. She brought her hand back down when she’d felt it had rung for a sufficient amount of time and started to pull at the end of her shirt to straighten it, then shot a confident smile in Tara’s direction, more to try and trick herself into having any than to convince her wife.  
  
  
Neither woman took a breath in the few moments it took for the door to open, revealing a greying-red haired woman, with a small amount of middle-aged spread that Tara couldn’t see even an ounce of her wife in. She was holding an opened book in the hand not on the door and hadn’t even bothered to look up from it yet.  
  
  
It took another moment for gaze to rise, it appeared as if she was trying to finish the page first, and when she did, her face remained blank and emotionless, save for her blinking several times in apparent surprise.  
  
  
“Willow.”  
  
  
Willow wiped her hand on the side of her pants to get rid of any sweat that had formed and brought it up in a wave.  
  
  
“Hi mom.”  
  
  
There was an awkward lull as nobody spoke until Willow cleared her throat and put her hand on her stomach.  
  
  
“Can we come in?”  
  
  
Sheila slammed her book shut and rolled her eyes; the fact that she was seeing the daughter she hadn’t seen in 13 years apparently causing her no emotion.  
  
  
“I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of stepping through a doorway.”  
  
  
Willow’s nostrils flared but she swallowed any urge to be anything other than polite.  
  
  
“May we come in?”  
  
  
“I suppose you can,” Sheila replied stoically, stepping aside, “I wasn’t aware you were in town. I thought you once said you’d never come back here.”  
  
  
Willow bit back the urge to retort that was because she was told she wouldn’t be welcome.  
  
  
“My school reunion was on,” she answered, deciding that was enough of an answer as she walked through the door and pulled Tara with her.  
  
  
Sheila nodded curtly and closed the door behind them, and left the book she had been reading on a nearby table before leading them into the living room. She perched on the edge of one sofa while Willow sat into the other, Tara beside her and looked around in room; she wouldn’t have recognised it if she didn’t already know where she was.  
  
  
It was completely changed from the house she grew up in; any sign of her and her father had been completely eradicated.  
  
  
“Did you want a tea or a beverage?” Sheila asked after a moment.  
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“No, thank you.”  
  
  
Another silence followed as Willow shuffled nervously and Sheila waited for her to speak, wondering why on earth this had all come about. She may not have seen her daughter in 13 years, but this was just an inconvenience to her Saturday reading.   
  
  
It was rude for a guest to come by unannounced.  
  
  
“You brought a friend,” she said, purposely ignoring the fact that they were holding hands.  
  
  
Willow brought their hands into her lap.  
  
  
“I brought my wife. Tara.”  
  
  
“It’s very nice to meet you-” Tara sat forward and started to speak but was cut off by Sheila.  
  
  
“Does Tara have a surname?”  
  
  
“Same as mine,” Willow answered curtly, “Rosenberg-Maclay.”  
  
  
Sheila sent her eyes upwards and Willow shook her head to herself. She looked over to Tara as if to say ‘why did I even bother’ and just got a look of encouragement back before Sheila spoke again.  
  
  
“Well, I must say, Willow, when you told us of your…proclivities, I never thought I’d see you in this…condition.”  
  
  
Willow leant forward with a hopeful look.  
  
  
“It’s a little girl,” she said, hoping she could appeal to something, anything in her mother to make her speak to her with anything but the disdain she was getting, “We, we haven’t decided on a name yet, but we’re thinking about it.”  
  
  
Sheila glanced down at Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“Her father isn’t in the picture?”  
  
  
Willow calmly shook her head.  
  
  
“We used an anonymous sperm donor. Our kids have two moms and that’s it.”  
  
  
Sheila’s interest seemed piqued.  
  
  
“You have another child?”  
  
  
Willow face lit up as she thought she’d found an in.  
  
  
“Yeah, a little boy. His name is JJ,” she said, reaching for her wallet from her purse hanging from her shoulder, “Do you want to see-”  
  
  
“Did you carry him too?” Sheila cut her off.  
  
  
Willow dropped her hand from her shoulder and her brow creased in confusion.  
  
  
“No, we adopted him,” she answered, before her jaw set as she understood the reasoning behind the question, “And since you’re so curious, we actually used Tara’s eggs to get me pregnant.”  
  
  
Sheila scoffed and rolled her eyes.  
  
  
“So I don’t really have any grandchildren.”  
  
  
The last of Willow’s patience ran out and she abruptly stood, yanking Tara up with her.  
  
  
“No. You don’t. Our children already have two wonderful grandparents and I am so glad you’re not a part of their life, that you haven't been able to, to, poison them! I am so sorry we bothered you, I’ll just be leaving with my wife now.”  
  
  
Sheila stood as well.  
  
  
“Wife,” she spat out, shaking her head, “That term used to be sacred.”  
  
  
Willow’s jaw clenched and she snarled.  
  
  
“It is. There is nothing more sacred to me than my marriage.”  
  
  
“This,” Sheila replied, gesturing between the two women with disdain, “Is not a marriage.”  
  
  
Willow stayed rooted to the spot, standing her ground.  
  
  
“I am married. I consider myself married, my wife considers us married, our friends and family consider us married, our children consider us married and the states of Massachusetts and New York consider us married. The only person who doesn’t consider us married is _you_ , and I really don’t care about your opinion anymore.”  
  
  
Sheila laughed a bitter laugh.  
  
  
“You never did.”  
  
  
Willow blinked away a tear and shook her head.  
  
  
“I wish I’d cut off any part of you when you did with me. I won’t live in regret or wonder about what we could or should be,” she said, her bottom lip beginning to quake, “I could never look at my children the way you look at me.”  
  
  
Her voice started to break and she swallowed the emotion, refusing to allow her mother think she was affecting her.  
  
  
“Goodbye. Really forever this time. I hope you can be happy, and I know I will be because I already am,” she said before pulling Tara out of the room towards the door, “Come on.”  
  
  
She took long strides towards and out the door with Tara at her heels.  
  
  
“Willow?” Sheila’s voice came from the doorway when they were halfway down the lane to the gate and Willow looked around, her eyes crinkled in hope, “Tell your father he’s late with the alimony cheque.”  
  
  
She shut the door without so much as another glance in their direction and Willow’s face crumpled before turning into a scowl as she marched towards the car. Tara had to again practically run to keep with her but the redhead reached the car first, slamming herself into the passenger seat.  
  
  
Tara sat into the driver’s seat and looked over to Willow’s, who was staring unblinkingly out the window, a stony expression on her face.  
  
  
“Willow, I’m so sorry.”  
  
  
Willow remained silent and unmoving, making Tara think she was maybe angry at her too for not defending them more.  
  
  
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, I thought you needed to take the lead.”  
  
  
Willow still didn’t move an inch and Tara reached out to touch her shoulder.  
  
  
“Willow?”  
  
  
Willow made no acknowledgement at all that Tara was even in the same vicinity was her.  
  
  
Tara wasn’t sure what to do but she knew she needed to get them away from that house, so she turned the engine on and drove away; following the route Willow had guided her to back to the town.  
  
  
Unsure what Willow wanted, or needed, she drove straight to the hotel. She hadn’t even turned the key in the ignition to turn the car off before Willow had jumped from it, making a beeline for the hotel.  
  
  
Tara rushed after her and managed to just skirt through the elevator doors as they closed. The button for their floor was pressed but Willow remained unresponsive. The doors opened and Willow was off again in the direction of their room, shoving the key-card in the door repeatedly until the green light eventually lit up and she pushed her way inside.  
  
  
Tara had to put her hands out to stop the door from slamming back into her face as she followed behind and gently closed it before jumping back in fright when Willow aggressively kicked the corner of the closet space.  
  
  
“Eurgh,” Willow cried out, the overwhelming emotion engulfing her; the easiest of which to deal with, anger, bubbling to the forefront. She kicked the closet again and went to slam her palms against it, but was blocked as her belly bumped against it first and she grabbed her stomach in fury, “Damn baby!”   
  
  
She gasped in shock as soon as the words left her mouth and almost stumbled backwards, reaching out to put a hand against the wall as she shook her head furiously. Her breath became shallow and laboured and she reached up to pull at the collar of her shirt.  
  
  
“No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” she said, falling to her knees and holding her head in her hands, “I-I meant the bump. I meant the bump!”  
  
  
Tara leapt into action and dropped down on her knees beside her wife, reaching for her hands.  
  
  
“It’s okay, Willow, it’s okay. Calm down, sweetie.”  
  
  
“Not the baby,” Willow rambled, repeating it like a mantra as she blinked multiple times per second, her whole body shaking, “Never the baby, not, not…”  
  
  
Tara reached up and grabbed Willow’s head by the side of her cheeks.  
  
  
“Willow, you need to breathe. _You need to breathe_. For the baby.”  
  
  
Willow continued to shake and spout nonsensical snippets, her features paling to a greying ash colour. Tara thought she looked like she was the verge of either throwing up or passing out, so she planted herself in a sitting position on the floor and pulled Willow’s back to her, between her legs.  
  
  
She reached one hand down to take Willow’s hand, putting both of their arms across the redhead’s chest, while the other went to her wife’s head, cupping her ear as she began to rock them back and forth.  
  
  
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey,” she started to sing behind Willow’s other ear, “You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you, so please don’t take my sunshine away.”   
  
  
She hummed the tune and sang the verse another couple of times until she felt Willow stop shaking around her.  
  
  
“Do you remember you sang that to me once?” she whispered, hoping to pull Willow completely out of the hysterical panic she’d been in, “I know you don’t like to remember because you don’t like your voice, but I do. I was so upset about leaving you to go to Paris and you couldn’t get me to stop crying and you just pulled me close and started to sing to me, even though you were so self-conscious. Do you remember that?”  
  
  
Willow didn’t say anything but Tara felt her give a small nod and could feel her breathing returning to a more normal rate.   
  
  
“Yeah?” she asked, wanting to hear Willow speak, “You remember?”  
  
  
There was a moment of shaky breathing before Willow’s voice broke through.  
  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
  
“That’s my girl,” Tara whispered as she continued to rock them, “It’s all okay, Willow.”  
  
  
Willow stared into space directly in front of her as she gave her heart and mind a chance to stop racing until her body began to feel like she was in control of it again. She sniffled and dropped her head against her chest.  
  
  
“I-I meant the bump,” she whispered, forlorn, “It was just…in the way. I meant the bump.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her forehead to the back of Willow’s head, holding back her own tears at seeing her wife in such a state.  
  
  
“I know you did,” she replied emphatically, taking Willow’s hand from her chest to her stomach, “ _She_ knows you did.”  
  
  
There was a silence for a moment before the sound of deep sobs began to fill the room. Tara clutched Willow’s hand tighter.  
  
  
“Oh, darling,” she whispered, her own emotion momentarily slipping out before she silently cleared her throat and began to stand them up, “Come on, honey, let’s go lie down.”  
  
  
Willow let herself be helped up and over to the bed, deep sobs still rising from her throat as Tara lay them both down on their sides and cradled her from behind.  
  
  
She reached for Tara’s hands and brought it up over her heart, clutching it close as she struggled to take in breath.  
  
  
“Will…you…sing…to…me…again?”  
  
  
She felt Tara cuddle into her before her voice began to sing in her ear.  
  
  
 _You’re having my baby…what a wonderful way to say how much you love me…_  
  
  
Willow started to giggle through the tears and Tara grinned.  
  
  
“I won’t really subject you to that,” she giggled back, giving Willow another squeeze and dropped her voice to a soft tone.  
  
  
 _Have I told you lately that I love you?_  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes and let her wife’s angelic voice sooth her.  
  
  
 _Have I told you there's no one else above you?  
Fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness,  
Ease my troubles, that's what you do._  
  
  
Willow nodded along softly in agreement of the words and her sobs began to quiet into almost inaudible hiccups.  
  
  
 _For the morning sun in all its glory,  
Meets the day with hope and comfort too,  
You fill my life with laughter, somehow you make it better,  
Ease my troubles, that's what you do._  
  
  
Willow clutched Tara’s hand closer to her heart and looked over her shoulder to catch her wife’s gaze.  
  
  
 _Have I told you lately that I love you? There's no one else above you…_  
  
  
Willow offered a small smile in gratitude for the comfort and got an answering one in return.  
  
  
 _You fill my heart with gladness. You take away all my sadness…_  
  
  
Tara looked deeply into her wife’s eyes as if she was trying to do just that and brought her hand up to Willow’s cup, cupping it.  
  
  
 _Ease my troubles, that's what you do._  
  
  
Willow leaned her forehead against Tara’s and brushed their lips together.  
  
  
“Thank you,” she said quietly, bring a hand up to wipe her eyes, “I don’t know why I’m so upset. I expected this.”  
  
  
“It’s fine to be upset. It’s upsetting. What she said, how she acted. It’s upsetting. It’s heart-breaking,” Tara replied softly, rubbing the skin under her thumb, “It’s okay if you’re mad at me too.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“I’m sorry I didn’t answer in the car. I was overwhelmed,” she explained, “I’m not mad at you. You did everything I needed you to. You held my hand.”  
  
  
She gave a weak smile before ducking her head and sighing.  
  
  
“And as for just then... I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”  
  
  
Tara left a gentle kiss against her wife’s forehead and pressed their bodies closer together.  
  
  
“Willow, I’m so sorry.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes and swallowed a few times before giving a definitive nod.  
  
  
“Okay. You’re gonna cuddle me and sing to me and I’m gonna mope and maybe cry a little for the next hour. And then I’m shutting that door. I did what I needed to do and it’s over and I’m so happy I can move on.”  
  
  
Tara tucked a piece of hair behind Willow’s ear.  
  
  
“You can’t put a time limit on being upset, sweetie.”  
  
  
“Yes, I can. Because then I’m taking you to see the town I grew up in and I’m going to take you to try that amazing ravioli and we’re going to have a wonderful evening,” Willow replied determinedly, circling a finger in front of her face in indication, “Resolve face. It’s unbeatable.”  
  
  
She saw Tara’s uncertainty and tried to offer a confident smile, though it was somewhat lacking.  
  
  
“Really, Tara. I can feel this huge weight lifted already,” she said, nodding to herself for a moment before her eyes filled with fresh tears and her voice started to break, “I just need to let the emotions out so it can truly be over. Okay? Will you do that with me?”  
  
  
Tara nodded quickly and gathered Willow again in her arms.  
  
  
“Of course I will,” she said in a coarse whisper, holding onto her wife as tightly as she could, “Of course I will.”  
  
  
She left gentle kisses under Willow’s ear as her wife’s body began to heave with sobs and just held her, trying to offer a much comfort as she could, humming quietly.  
  
  
 _Anytime you feel like you just can’t hold on…just hold on to my love and I’ll help you be strong…_


	57. Chapter 57

“Oh, oh! Over here!”  
  
  
Tara diligently followed Willow across the expanse of grass in Sunnydale’s local park and smiled at her wife’s perky attitude.  
  
  
They had both been right earlier when they talked about putting a time constraint on Willow being upset about what had happened with her mother – it had taken more than an hour for her to get all the emotion she needed out, but as they rounded the two and a half hour mark, the tears had started to dry up and Tara could have sworn she almost saw the grief physically leave her wife’s body.  
  
  
Willow had turned over to her with a smile and just said ‘it’s over’. And Tara believed her.  
  
  
They’d both gotten changed into some different clothes and grabbed a sandwich in the hotel’s restaurant before Willow had begun a walking tour of Sunnydale, showing Tara the different monuments and buildings the town had to offer until they’d arrived in the park.  
  
  
“Look, right here,” Willow said, almost jumping up and down on the spot as she stopped at an area by the pond, surrounded by shrubs, “I’m pretty sure I did every single one of my summer reading assignments right here in this spot. I always thought these bushes kinda looked like a sofa.”  
  
  
Tara looked at the bushes, squares sticking out either side of a long rectangle and smile.  
  
  
“You’re right, they do.”   
  
  
Willow knelt down and just touched the grass for a moment before turning to sit down fully. Tara sat beside her.  
  
  
“Brave New World. The Grapes of Wrath. 1984, Dracula,” Willow listed off with a fond smile, “I learnt about so many new worlds right here in this spot.”  
  
  
Tara moved her arm around Willow’s waist.  
  
  
“It seems like a nice spot to learn.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement before her face suddenly lit up.  
  
  
“Oh and check it out,” she said, reaching behind into the bushes for a stone, “Perfect position to do this.”  
  
  
She lifted her wrist and flicked it outwards, the stone leaving her hand and falling into the water, bouncing 4 times before sinking. Tara smiled and looked impressed.  
  
  
“I never quite learned that skill.”  
  
  
“Oh, it’s easy,” Willow started to gush, reaching for another stone and handing it to Tara, “You see, the force of the water is proportional to the squared speed of the stone. So then you just need to add a stabilizing torque that can maintain the initial angle at which it hits the water, ideally around 20°.”   
  
  
Tara stared at the stone, then up at Willow blankly. Willow smiled apologetically and took Tara’s wrist, positioning it a certain way towards the pond.  
  
  
“And flick…”  
  
  
Tara flicked her wrist and released the stone, which landed on the water and gave 3 dedicated bounces before sinking. Tara beamed.  
  
  
“Hey, I did it.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and rested her head on Tara’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Physics is your friend.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and they both quietly enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere until Willow suddenly started giggling.  
  
  
“What?” Tara asked, finding her wife’s laughter infectious.  
  
  
Willow covered her mouth with her hand and blushed.  
  
  
“I just remembered that I used to order lesbian novels online and sneak them down here to read too. I thought I was such a rebel hiding my Tipping the Velvet behind my Pride and Prejudice.”  
  
  
Tara laughed as well and dropped a kiss onto the side of Willow’s head.  
  
  
“I don’t know about you but that ravioli is really starting to appeal to me. I’m guessing little bean could do with some food too.”  
  
  
Willow raised her head and smiled with a nod.  
  
  
“It’s starting to get dark anyway. I don’t want to be walking down the side streets when it’s dark. Let’s head to Modena.”  
  
  
Tara stood and helped Willow up as well.  
  
  
“Should we have made reservations?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“Benefit of being in a small town. There’s always a table.”  
  
  
Tara nodded and linked arms with her wife as they began to follow the path out of the park. They leisurely strolled back into the town and down the main street until Willow suddenly stopped outside an older-looking building and peered in the window with a fond smile, a display of books in view with ‘Ruth Michelson, proprietor, est. 1942’ in peeling, white lettering at the base.  
  
  
“I loved this bookstore. It was always so quiet, and peaceful. And you know, the popular kids weren’t really big on the reading so I never had to deal with them.”  
  
  
Tara looked towards the door, the ‘open’ sign still turned over. She moved her hand down to take Willow’s.  
  
  
“It’s open,” she said, putting her other hand on the door handle, “Do you want to go in?”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes lit up and she nodded keenly so Tara opened the door, a bell ringing from above as they walked through. Tara watched as Willow’s whole body jumped in excitement as she looked on at the different aisles of mahogany bookshelves, filled with books, seemingly uncategorised, with even more unsorted books in stacks on various parts of the floor or on top of the shelves.   
  
  
The entire place held the distinct smell of an old, well-read book and off to the side, Tara could see some old beanbags in a corner, hidden behind some of the stacks in the dimly-lit room.  
  
  
In other words, Willow’s heaven.   
  
  
Tara knew straight away why this had been her wife’s favourite hang-out as a teen; if she had had such a place and more freedom to visit, she would have spent every available hour there too.  
  
  
She followed Willow down a middle aisle and watched her reach out just to feel the spines of the books in wonder.  
  
  
“I didn’t even care that they were all unorganised because then I got to do it. I must’ve redesigned this place at least six times. By title, then author, genre, publish date, size, colour. The owner used to be an older lady named Mrs. Michelson and she let me just do whatever I want, said she was happy someone was paying attention to the books and loving them like she did,” she gushed as she looked back to Tara with a giddy smile, “I’d make myself a little book fort and she’d bring me cocoa.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and put a hand on Willow’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Sunnydale’s not as completely awful as you remember, is it?”  
  
  
Willow gave a contemplative smile and softly shook her head.  
  
  
“No. I guess I was so fixated on all the negatives I never thought about all the stuff I really loved,” she replied, then moved to rest her head on Tara’s shoulder, “I’m so glad I got to share it with you.”  
  
  
Tara pressed her lips against the top of Willow’s head and felt her wrap her arms around her waist from the side. They embraced quietly in the middle of the bookstore before something caught Willow’s attention and she reached out towards a bookshelf.  
  
  
“Hey, look. Firefighters A to Z,” she said, plucking the hardcover book from the shelf and flicking it open, “A is for Alarm, that rings loud and clear. B is for Boots, stowed in our bunker gear. C is for Chief, whose experience we trust, D is for Dalmatian, a firehouse must! JJ would love this.”  
  
  
“Let’s get it for him,” Tara replied, taking the book to peruse the back, “He’ll love the pictures.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement and pulled herself away from Tara to guide them to the back of the store where the worn oak desk that acted as the sales counter was, bare apart from a service bell and a cash register that looked like it had been there since the 40’s, when the store opened.  
  
  
There was no one standing behind the counter so Willow tapped her hand against the service bell and they both waited patiently for a minute until a door behind and just off to the side of the counter opened and a diminutive elderly lady shuffled out, slightly hunched over, wearing glasses as thick as the door itself.  
  
  
Willow’s eyebrows shot up as she saw the woman and recognised her straight away; astonished that she was still alive – she’d been so old when Willow was in high school that she sometimes feared coming into the store after school and being the one to find her dead.  
  
  
“Mrs. Michelson?” she asked in awe.  
  
  
The woman peered over the counter in response before taking her glasses off, cleaning them and putting them on again. She still had to squint to see through them, but after a moment both eyebrows raised a tad.  
  
  
“Willow Rosenberg?”  
  
  
Willow beamed and nodded excitedly.  
  
  
“Yeah! Well, Rosenberg-Maclay now, but yeah! Hi! I, I can’t believe you still run this place.”  
  
  
Mrs. Michelson gave a wry smile.  
  
  
“I never was as old as you thought I was,” she said, making Willow blush, “I believe you promised you’d come in to see me whenever you were home after you went off to college.”  
  
  
Willow looked deeply apologetic.  
  
  
“Mrs. Michelson, I’m very sorry. I, I…I had a disagreement with my parents and…well, this is the first time I’ve been back ever since.”  
  
  
Mrs Michelson smiled kindly and with forgiveness, she’d never really held a grudge; knowing the young woman who’d left those years ago was destined for great things. She gestured to Willow’s bump.  
  
  
“You’re carrying high. Must be a girl.”  
  
  
Willow knew that particular old wife’s tale had no basis in fact and that it was muscle, uterine tone and the baby’s position that dictated how she was carrying, but decided that this wasn’t the moment to bring all that up.  
  
  
“It is a girl,” she beamed, a hand either side of her belly before she smiled somewhat shakily and moved a hand to Tara’s shoulder, “This is my wife. Tara.”  
  
  
Willow internally winced, hoping the woman who’d meant so much to her in high school wasn’t going to give her a second rejection of the day, but Mrs. Michelson just looked over to Tara and smiled.  
  
  
“Hello, dear.”  
  
  
“Hi,” Tara greeted back warmly in response, “It’s very nice to meet you. Willow says she spent a lot of time here.”  
  
  
Mrs. Michelson looked at Willow affectionately and nodded.  
  
  
“Oh yes, there were weeks where she was the only one to cross through that door. Always such a love for the books, reminded me of myself when I was younger. I hope you’ll pass on that trait to your little girl.”  
  
  
“Oh definitely,” Willow replied eagerly, then tapped the firefighter book on the counter, “And our son loves to read too.”  
  
  
“If you have a book, you’ll always have a friend,” Mrs. Michelson responded with a warm glint in her eye.  
  
  
Both Willow and Tara nodded in agreement but didn’t get a chance to respond as Mrs. Michelson moved around the counter and shuffled down one aisle, straight to a stack of books on the left hand side of the store. She removed three books from the top and picked up the one beneath, a square hardback booked called ‘Mesmerised’, all in black and white.  
  
  
Willow smiled as she watched her, remembering how the woman had always known exactly where every book in the store was, even without her keen organisational skills. Mrs. Michelson peered at the book to ensure it was the correct one before returning to her spot behind the counter and left the book down.  
  
  
“Newborns respond best to black and white images until their eyesight begins to focus.”  
  
  
“Really?” Willow asked, picking up the book in fascination, “Wow, I didn’t know that.”  
  
  
“Start her young,” Mrs Michelson replied, slotting the two books into a plain green paper bag with white handles and sliding it across the counter, “A gift from me for your children.”  
  
  
“Oh, Mrs. Michelson, you don’t have to-” Willow started but was cut off as the older woman just smiled warmly at her, “Thank you.”  
  
  
She handed the bag off to Tara and put a hand either side of her bump, looking bashful.  
  
  
“My son says I’m hard to hug these days, but could I…?”  
  
  
Mrs. Michelson smiled again.  
  
  
“Of course.”  
  
  
Willow smiled widely and made her way around the counter, hunching down to wrap her arms around the older woman. They embraced for a few moments before Willow pulled away and took both of Mrs. Michelson’s hands in hers.  
  
  
“Thank you for everything you ever did for me. You could never know.”  
  
  
The older woman gave Willow’s hands a gentle squeeze.  
  
  
“Likewise, dear Willow.”  
  
  
Tara turned and pretended to be interested in the complete works of Shakespeare to give the other two a moment until she felt Willow’s hand slip into hers and moved back around.  
  
  
“It was so great seeing you, Mrs Michelson,” Willow said animatedly, almost bouncing on the balls of her feet, “I’m probably not going to be back here again, but could I write you?”  
  
  
Mrs Michelson gave a soft smile.  
  
  
“I don’t do these new-fangled email things. You never could convince me.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and shook her head.  
  
  
“I mean real pen and paper. Maybe even an inkwell.”  
  
  
Mrs Michelson nodded happily.  
  
  
“I’d like that dear.”  
  
  
“Great!” Willow beamed, “I’ll, um, I’ll send you a photo of the baby with her book when she gets here.”  
  
  
The older woman stayed quiet but looked utterly touched, her and Willow sharing a smile for a few moments until it was interrupted by Willow’s stomach loudly rumbling and she grabbed a hold of her belly, highly embarrassed.  
  
  
“She’s, um, very bossy when she’s hungry.”  
  
  
Mrs Michelson's lips quirked in understanding and affection.  
  
  
“It was wonderful to see you, Willow. I look forward to your letters.”  
  
  
“I look forward to writing them,” Willow replied genuinely.  
  
  
They departed with a kind wave and Willow giddily swung Tara’s hand between them as they continued to walk down the main street.  
  
  
“God, I can’t believe that just happened,” she gushed to Tara, “I mean, she was almost like my grandmother. You know, the very first time I set foot in that store was after my Bubbe’s funeral when I was nine? I just felt so lost, because my Bubbe was the only family member I really felt cared about me. And Mrs Michelson was so kind, she just let me read and we talked, and they even had the same name, Ruth, which I thought was funny at the time, but not really that much since it was in the top 10 names of women born in the 20’s, I remember looking it up. I mean, it’s not like she could replace her or anything, but they both made me feel the same comfort and same kind of love and–”  
  
  
She cut her babble off with a soft sigh.  
  
  
“I forgot all about her when everything happened with my parents,” she said regretfully before shaking her head, “But I really will write her. I’ll keep in touch this time.”  
  
  
Tara leant over and dropped a kiss on Willow’s cheek.  
  
  
“I’m very happy for you.”  
  
  
They turned a corner and arrived at the restaurant and were seated right away at a small, intimate table in the corner, looking out the window. The waiter went to hand him the menus but Tara rebuffed with a smile.  
  
  
“I don’t think we need them. Two orders of your famous porcini mushroom ravioli, please. And two iced teas.”  
  
  
“Wait, wait,” Willow grabbed a menu before the waiter went away and opened it, quickly scanning along the pages, “Can we also get garlic bread with that? Oh and some mozzarella sticks and some stuffed mushrooms to start? Oh and some of those tomato caprese bites! Thank you!”  
  
  
The waiter, slightly wide-eyed, wrote down the order and smiled as he tucked the pen behind his ear.  
  
  
“I’ll be right back with your drinks.”  
  
  
He left and Willow happily folded her napkin over her lap before noticing Tara’s gaze was directed at her, a look in her eye.  
  
  
“What?” she asked, her eyes looking down self-consciously and her tone becoming defensive, “The baby needs more calories in the last trimester. I-I’m gonna lose it all after she comes out.”  
  
  
Tara reached across the table and took one of Willow’s hands.  
  
  
“Which part of your brain confused my look of adoration for one of disgust?”  
  
  
Willow identified the loving look Tara was giving her and smiled sheepishly.  
  
  
“The silly part.”  
  
  
The waiter returned with their drinks a few minutes later and their appetisers followed not long after. Willow delighted in dipping the various breaded delights in their respective sauces and Tara nibbled on a few bites, but was saving herself for her main. When the baskets of appetisers were empty, two large, flat white bowls came out; one left on either of their place-settings.  
  
  
“Wow,” Tara said in appreciation, picking up her fork, “This looks delicious.”  
  
  
“Wait ‘til you taste it!” Willow replied enthusiastically, already cutting a piece of the pasta off and bringing it to her mouth, speaking through chewing “Oh my god, heaven.”  
  
  
Tara reacted in a similar manner as it passed her lips, going so far as to moan as the flavours burst across her taste buds and Willow squeezed her hand as she saw her wife.  
  
  
“Hey, nobody gets Tara-bedroom-eyes but me. Not even pasta.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled, grinned and twirled her fork around, addressing it in a low tone.  
  
  
“I want you inside me.”  
  
  
Willow straightened up in her chair in a huff.  
  
  
“Stop that!”  
  
  
Tara giggled and popped the forkful in her mouth.  
  
  
“Willow, you’re getting jealous over a carbohydrate.”  
  
  
“I’m pregnant,” Willow replied, indignant, “I don’t need rationale to be jealous.”  
  
  
Tara seductively dragged the fork from her mouth and lowered her voice to a whisper only her wife could hear.  
  
  
“I was opening the ravioli and imagining opening your legs. Tasting what it had to offer inside.”  
  
  
Willow gulped and grabbed her glass to cool herself down.  
  
  
“Well as long as you were thinking about me…”  
  
  
Tara winked and watched Willow blush and smile as they both finished their meal. Tara declined desert, full from the starchy main, but Willow happily made her way through a bowl of tiramisu before finally declaring herself, and the baby, full.  
  
  
“Never say I don’t deliver when you demand, little bean,” Willow said to her stomach, one hand on top of it as Tara signed the check, “My boobs are in for quite a shock if she’s like this when she comes out.”  
  
  
Tara held back a snort as that comment attracted some stares from a few nearby tables.  
  
  
“Shall we stroll back to the hotel?”  
  
  
Willow peered out the window for a moment in thought.  
  
  
“It’s all streetlamps. Should be safe.”  
  
  
Tara stood and offered her hand to Willow, who gratefully took it and let herself be helped up. They walked hand in hand out of the restaurant and back in the direction of the hotel before Willow suddenly stopped at the end of the street, looking fondly on at the building there, ‘Espresso Pump’ written across the top.  
  
  
“Wow. This place got me through a few all-nighters.”  
  
  
Tara remembered Willow reminiscing of the place in their early days and smiled.  
  
  
“Let’s have a coffee.”  
  
  
Willow smiled, receptive to the idea and they walked inside. There were a few people in the corners, hunched over laptops, and easy listening music playing from the speakers with a single barista behind the counter, leaning back and idly cleaning a filter.  
  
  
They sat at a table in the front and Tara left her purse on the back of a chair and took her purse out.  
  
  
“One mocha for my missus coming up.”  
  
  
“I can’t,” Willow replied regretfully, her hand going to her belly affectionately again, “No caffeine for this little one.”  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow and sat on the chair beside Willow.  
  
  
“Willow, for the first three years we dated, every single time we got a coffee, you would regal me with the story of ‘the best mocha in the known universe’ and how no Bostonian coffee would ever compare. Are you really telling me you’re denying _the best mocha in the known universe_?” she asked with a crooked smile, “One won’t hurt her.”  
  
  
Willow seemed contemplative for a moment before smiling.  
  
  
“Okay,” she agreed, giddily perking up.  
  
  
Tara grinned and dropped a kiss on Willow’s cheek before going up to order two mochas – it wasn’t typically her drink of choice but she wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to try the beverage that had held her wife’s affections for so long.  
  
  
She carried the two cups back to the table and retook her seat, watching in delight as Willow brought her mug to her face and inhaled the aroma before finally taking a long sip, her whole body slumping in the seat and an easy smile falling on her face.  
  
  
“That is the best thing to pass my lips in a long time,” she said, her closed in savour before they quickly snapped open, “Apart from you. Any part of you. That’s always the best.”  
  
  
Tara smiled in indication that she wasn’t offended and picked up her mug, taking a mouthful of the warm, chocolaty liquid.  
  
  
“That is a very good mocha,” she agreed, peeling away the plastic around the small biscotti that had come with the coffee and taking a bite.  
  
  
Willow took another sip and a relaxed sigh left her lips.  
  
  
“I’m so glad we came back here. And especially that I confronted my mother,” she said easily, the pain of everything having evaporated and started to play footsie with Tara under the table, “I’ve always had this niggling thing in the back of my mind; well, if I’m so great and wonderful and all the things Tara makes me feel I am…why does my own mother still want nothing to do with me? And if it’s not me, if it’s her, does that mean that inevitably I’m going to end up being like her?”  
  
  
Tara’s eyebrow raised and she went to reassure, but Willow got there first, smiling calmly.  
  
  
“But I won’t. I mean one of the many, many things you taught me is that our parents only have power over us if we let them,” she said, moving one hand over her belly, “I owe it to her and JJ to the best possible mother I can be.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“You are the best mother.”  
  
  
Willow looked bashful, but didn’t stop smiling.  
  
  
“And now I can really… _really_ believe it.”


	58. Chapter 58

  
“Olivia?”  
  
  
Tara grimaced and shook her head.  
  
  
“Olivia was my Cordelia Chase in high school.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in understanding as she lay in a deck chair in the backyard, Tara alongside her in another, both of them in light t-shirts and shorts, enjoying the summer sun on that Saturday afternoon while JJ spent the morning swimming with Ira.   
  
  
At first they’d just been sunbathing and Tara had been reading, but after a while it had turned into a discussion on baby names. They had yet to find a name that spoke to both of them.  
  
  
“Madison?” Tara ventured, though her heart wasn’t really in it.  
  
  
Willow scrunched up her nose and Tara sighed.  
  
  
“Yeah, I’m not really feeling it either.”  
  
  
Willow took one of Tara’s hands on the two armrests between them and swung it lightly.  
  
  
“She needs a name.”  
  
  
“I know she does,” Tara replied softly, looking down at Willow’s belly, visible from where the redhead and pulled her t-shirt up around her chest.  
  
  
“Mia?” Willow asked, the scowled, “Scratch that, it reminds me of that skank who had a crush on you in college and tried to break us up.”  
  
  
Tara shuddered at that memory, then Willow threw her other hand up in exasperation.  
  
  
“‘Little bean’ is going to end up on her birth certificate if we don’t come up with something!”  
  
  
“We will figure out what her name is, I promise,” Tara replied reassuringly but Willow was already in the beginning stages of a pout.  
  
  
“JJ was just JJ and then when we had to come up with a proper name for him, we decided on the spot! Why is this so difficult?”  
  
  
Tara reached over and pushed some hair from Willow's brow affectionately.  
  
  
“Well, he was soothed by that jingle you sang for him, that's how he got his name. Maybe we need to think about the things she...”  
  
  
Tara trailed off as she saw Willow tense, looking intently down at her stomach, and directed her gaze there too. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a little bird perched right above Willow's belly button.  
  
  
“It’s okay, Willow,” she whispered, squeezing her hand softly, “It’s just a robin.”  
  
  
Willow seemed to relax a little but stayed motionless. They both watched in amazement as the little bird looked towards them for a long, intense moment before flying away.  
  
  
“Well that was freakin’ weird,” Willow said a moment, wiping at her stomach to rid herself of the odd clawing feeling the bird's feet had clutched at her, “My damn belly button is so big it thought it was a branch!”  
  
  
Tara stayed looking at the spot where the bird had land landed, her hand moving to cover Willow's on top, rubbing over it. She looked up to Willow, eyes shining with a tender warmth and her lips quirked happily to one side.  
  
  
“I don’t think it was weird. I think it was telling.”  
  
  
Willow looked to her wife, confused.  
  
  
“Come again?”  
  
  
Tara's grin grew, her tone soft.  
  
  
“Robyn.”  
  
  
Willow’s brow creased in confusion; she knew the bird was a robin – Tara had already mentioned it and she had enough basic knowledge that she could identify the common creature.  
  
  
“Was it, um, a rare breed or something?” she asked, thinking maybe the bird had appealed to the nature lover in her wife.  
  
  
“No, Willow,” Tara shook her head, still beaming from ear-to-ear, “ _Robyn_.”  
  
  
Willow continued to gape in confusion before looking down at their conjoined hands rubbing her belly and a wide smile broke out on her face in realisation.  
  
  
“Robyn,” she repeated loudly, almost bouncing up and down in the chair, “Robyn! Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Tara, that’s her name, we have her name!”  
  
  
Tara brought her hands together and clapped in delight.  
  
  
“We named our daughter!”  
  
  
“We named our daughter!” Willow repeated giddily, leaning over between the chairs as much as she was able in a request for a kiss.  
  
  
Tara happily obliged in meeting her halfway, holding her wife's face in her hands and softly stroking her jawbones with her thumb. She bumped their noses together and left a doting kiss on the tip of Willow's when they pulled away, then shuffled down in her chair and began trailing her lips softly all over Willow’s exposed belly.  
  
  
She whispered quiet affections against her wife’s skin, nuzzling tenderly against it until she felt an intense gaze from Willow and turned her cheek to rest on the redhead’s cheek, smiling softly.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
Willow reached down and gently toyed with the ends of Tara's hair.  
  
  
“I…” she trailed off, a pensive and hopeful look on her face “I think I might…Well, you know, we like to do the whole alliteration thing. So I think I might have a middle name idea.”  
  
  
Tara reached for Willow’s hand and cradled it.  
  
  
“Tell me.”  
  
  
Willow silently thought to herself for a moment before speaking.  
  
  
“Ruth,” she said, half-questioning, with a shy smile, “After my Bubbe, and Mrs. Michelson. But, Tara, I completely understand if you’re not comfortable naming our daughter after a woman you never met and one you only met once in a bookstore.”  
  
  
Tara lips quirked into the same fond smile they had before and she closed her eyes as she let the name ring around her mind, then opened them to nod keenly at her wife.  
  
  
“Hi Robyn Ruth Rosenberg-Maclay. Hi,” she said to Willow’s belly, using her other hand to stroke it before grinning up at Willow, “Three R’s. We’re stepping it up a notch.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes were glassy with unshed tears and she brought a hand up to cover her heart.  
  
  
“Really?” she asked, her voice choked.  
  
  
Tara sat back up wrapped her arm around Willow's stomach to leave a hand on her hip, holding her and planting a warm and sweet kiss on her lips.  
  
  
“That’s her name.”  
  
  
Willow beamed and clapped her hands together excitedly.  
  
  
“I love it,” she gushed, smiling ear-to-ear, “It’s perfect. It’s her name. Little Robyn. Robyn Ruth.”   
  
  
Tara’s face held the same amount of joy and she started to rub Willow’s belly again, the allure too much to resist.  
  
  
“Our baby girl, Robyn.”  
  
  
Willow began to bounce again before stopping, suddenly serious.  
  
  
“Wait, wait!” she said, clearing her throat and started to wag her finger, “Robyn, don’t touch that! Robyn, that’s hot! Robyn Ruth Rosenberg-Maclay, you go to your room right now, young lady!”   
  
  
Tara burst out laughing and grinned, scrunching up her nose in delight.  
  
  
“That’s definitely her name. How about…” she started, moving back down to Willow’s stomach and kissed her bellybutton, “We love you, Robyn. We love you, Robyn Ruth.”  
  
  
Both Tara and Willow felt a swift kick at that.  
  
  
“She likes it!” Willow exclaimed in in glee before her tone softened and she held Tara's hand up against her heart, “Thank you. I’m gonna tell Mrs Michelson in my next letter and she’ll be so touched. This means the world to me.”  
  
  
Tara rested her cheek on Willow’s belly again and closed her eyes to imagine the little being growing inside.  
  
  
“It’s a beautiful name.”  
  
  
Willow traced her finger down the side of Tara's face and the curve of her ear lovingly.  
  
  
“The next one, you get total middle-name naming rights!”  
  
  
Tara just continued to grin and resumed kissing Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
They stayed like that, the sun shining down on them, for quite a while until the sound of car doors banging and their son’s loud laugh floated over from the driveway.   
  
  
“Boys are back,” Tara said, sitting up and stretching her back, “I'll get the door.”  
  
  
“I'll come,” Willow replied, pushing herself from her seat and taking Tara's hand as they moved towards the house.  
  
  
They reached the door just as the bell started to ring and Tara opened it to JJ and Ira, both in t-shirts and long shorts with wet hair.  
  
  
“Hey, little man!” Willow greeted her giddy son, “Did you enjoy swimming?”  
  
  
JJ nodded enthusiastically.  
  
  
“I did a handstand under water!”  
  
  
“Wow!” Willow replied with equal enthusiasm, holding her hand out, “High five!”  
  
  
JJ slapped her hand and Tara watched as water dripped from the ends of his clothing to the floor.   
  
  
“Your clothes are all wet, honey, why don’t you go change?”  
  
  
JJ dutifully ran upstairs and Willow stood aside to let her father inside.  
  
  
“Come in,” she said with a smile, closing the door behind him, “Handstands, huh? Have you been doing those Pilates classes with Michelle?”  
  
  
Ira flushed lightly.  
  
  
“I simply observed and offered encouragement.”  
  
  
“Thanks for taking him, Dad,” Willow replied as she lead them all into the living room, “We really appreciate it.”  
  
  
“Oh, no problem,” Ira responded jovially as he sat on the sofa, Willow and Tara opposite on the armchair, “Truth be told I enjoy the excuse to act juvenile. We got those noodle things and pretended they were lightsabers. Not something I can get away with in my everyday life.”  
  
  
Both Willow and Tara laughed before Ira gestured lovingly at Willow’s belly.  
  
  
“And I look forward to learning the art of the tea party and how to play with Barbies with my beautiful new granddaughter.”  
  
  
Willow felt a swell of emotion in the back of her throat and tried to push the lump down.  
  
  
“We’re so happy our children have such wonderful grandparents.”  
  
  
Ira smiled, though seemed confused at the seemingly random statement. Willow let out a shaky breath as she decided to tell her father the less than happy moments from their trip to Sunnydale, having only recounted the reunion and revisiting of the town when they'd returned the weekend before.  
  
  
She reached for Tara’s hand and held it in her lap, needing the strength from her wife.  
  
  
“I-I didn’t tell you something about when we went back to Sunnydale,” she said, stroking Tara’s fingers both for comfort and to calm her nerves, “I went to see Mom.”  
  
  
Ira's eyebrows rose in deep surprise but he just nodded, his hands clasped together between his knees.  
  
  
“Oh. And how was that?”  
  
  
Willow swallowed and tucked a piece of hair behind her own ear.  
  
  
“It…it didn’t go well. Not that I expected it to,” she said with a slight roll of her eyes, “But she acted like I was a stranger, pretty much disregarded Tara and didn’t care at all about the baby when she found out we used Tara’s egg, or JJ when I told her he was adopted.”  
  
  
Ira’s eyes creased in sorrow.  
  
  
“I’m very sorry, Willow.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head softly.  
  
  
“I’m not. It just proved to me how lucky we are that you and Michelle are our children’s grandparents. And, you know, I guess some relationships just can’t be saved. It’s her loss.”  
  
  
Ira again seemed surprised, but almost relieved as well and nodded.  
  
  
“It most certainly is. I’m honoured to be able to call all of you my family.”  
  
  
The lump of emotion rose in Willow’s throat again but she wasn’t able to quash it this time and tears began streaming down her face. Ira looked at her in alarm and sat forward.  
  
  
“Willow?”  
  
  
Willow covered her face with her hands and suddenly stood from Tara’s lap, rushing from the room and up the stairs to the bathroom. Ira immediately stood and looked helplessly at the door.  
  
  
“She’s okay,” Tara said softly, trying a smile, “Even that toilet paper commercial with the puppy makes her cry these days.”  
  
  
Ira continued to look concerned and Tara went over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder in comfort.  
  
  
“She just needs a moment. Don’t worry, I’ve learned to decipher when she needs a hug and when she just wants to be left alone for a minute.”  
  
  
Ira swallowed, but nodded, trusting Tara’s instinct. He sank back down onto the sofa, his hands between his knees again.  
  
  
“Did she take the confrontation with her mother very hard?”  
  
  
Tara sighed and retook her seat in the armchair.  
  
  
“It was rough. It was. Sheila was…cruel. But we’ve both dealt with parents who aren’t what they should be. Willow’s looking to the future now and not dwelling at all on the past, for the first time ever really, even if she hid it well before.”  
  
  
Ira nodded again, understanding, but his gaze was firmly directed at the floor. After a few moments, he raised his head, his face ashen and eyes filled with sadness.  
  
  
“I don’t regret having Willow, not for a second, even when I was…well, not being what I should have been like you said,” he started, his tone laced with remorse, “But I wish I could have given her a better mother. Sheila and I were an arranged marriage for all intents and purposes. Our fathers were big in business, we were shoved together and it was talked about more like a merger than a marriage. I’m not saying I didn’t love her once, you can’t create a child with someone and not have a part of you that doesn’t love them after that…but I didn’t even realise that real love didn’t feel cold until I met Michelle. And it still pains me that Willow grew up subjected to that coldness. Treated as an achievement, not as a child.”  
  
  
Tara felt an ache in her heart at her father-in-law’s sadness and went to sit beside him, putting a hand on his knee in comfort.  
  
  
“She turned out pretty well.”  
  
  
Ira smiled sadly.  
  
  
“No thanks to me.”  
  
  
Tara sought out Ira’s eyes and smiled kindly.  
  
  
“Ira, I can tell you honestly, after meeting Sheila…” she trailed off, shaking her head for a moment at the memory of meeting her before continuing, “All thanks to you. I know you feel you weren’t the father you should have been and deferred to your ex-wife a lot. But before your reconciliation, whenever Willow talked about you two, it was always you she remembered and missed. Learning how to ride a bike, and she said you did painting with her. And that you read with her until she started high school and she never felt it was to push an agenda, just because you enjoyed it.”  
  
  
A fond smile graced Ira’s features.  
  
  
“She was always a great reader. Knew words I didn’t, even. And a star at crosswords.”  
  
  
The side of Tara’s lips quirked upwards and she looked at her father-in-law reassuringly.  
  
  
“She said while we were in Sunnydale that she had this image of the town in her head where she was only focusing on the negatives of when she’d lived there and rediscovered all these wonderful things about the place and things she loved about growing up while we were there. I think you do the same thing. You regret all that you should have done but don’t think about all you really did do.”  
  
  
Ira looked at Tara for a moment as if contemplating what she was saying before giving a quiet laugh.  
  
  
“You’re wise beyond your years, Tara,” he said sincerely, taking both of her hands and looking at her intently, “Thank you for making my daughter happy.”  
  
  
Tara squeezed Ira’s hands and returned the look.  
  
  
“Thank you for giving her to me.”  
  
  
They embraced for a moment before pulling apart as Willow came back into the room, gently wiping at her eyes with a tissue and looked at the two curiously.  
  
  
“What?” Tara asked with a grin off the look, standing up to pull Willow back into her lap on the armchair, “You’re the only one gets hugs?”  
  
  
Willow giggled and shook her head.  
  
  
“No,” she replied, wrapping her arms around Tara as best she could, “You can have all the hugs you want.”  
  
  
Tara closed the lopsided embrace and whispered ‘you okay?’ in Willow’s ear, getting a brief nod in return. She kissed Willow’s lobe and kept her hands around her waist before the redhead suddenly jumped in place and beamed at her father.  
  
  
“Daddy, we picked a name!”  
  
  
Ira perked right up at that, the smile on his face finally reaching his eyes.  
  
  
“You did?”  
  
  
Willow nodded giddily and took one of Tara’s hands resting it with hers over her belly.  
  
  
“Robyn.”  
  
  
“Robyn,” Ira repeated, sounding it out with a smile, “Robyn Rosenberg.”  
  
  
“Rosenberg-Maclay,” Willow corrected and Ira had the decency to blush lightly.  
  
  
“Of course, I’m sorry.”  
  
  
Willow waved a hand in forgiveness, too happy to stay mad at an accidental faux-pas and bit the side of her lip before speaking again.  
  
  
“Her middle name is Ruth,” she said gently, “After Bubbe.”  
  
  
Willow didn't think her father would remember the bookstore owner from Sunnydale so opted not to mention the double-meaning behind the name. She had suggested the name in equal parts for her real and quasi grandmother and figured there would be a better time to inform her father of it, as she swore she saw a tear come to her father’s eye, though it was gone as soon as it came and he cleared his throat.  
  
  
“She would be so proud,” he said, the emotion he had tried to hide coming through, “And I am so proud.”  
  
  
He looked down to clear his throat again and Willow whispered ‘thank you’ to Tara. Tara just kissed Willow’s cheek and squeezed her hand until Ira looked back up, seemingly recovered from his moment and began to reach into the breast pocket of the golf shirt.  
  
  
“I actually had something I wanted to…” he trailed off as he picked out a folded piece of paper and handed it across to them, “For you.”  
  
  
Willow looked at it in confusion as she accepted it and her eyes went wide as she opened it to reveal a cheque, for quite a substantial amount of money. She looked at Tara, whose face had a similar expression before back to her father.  
  
  
“Dad, we can’t accept this,” she said, folding it back in half, “We were so grateful when you helped us out when we first got JJ but we couldn’t possibly…”  
  
  
Ira held his hand up to reject the cheque.  
  
  
“You just bought the house, and I know the treatment to conceive can’t have been cheap.”  
  
  
“Well,” Willow replied, swallowing, “No, it wasn’t. And we are…less in savings than we have been for the past while, but we’re, I mean, we’re fine. We’ve both still got steady incomes.”  
  
  
Ira leaned forward slightly, knowing it was a delicate issue and not wanting to cause any offence.  
  
  
“Michelle mentioned to me that you’d only asked for three weeks of parental leave,” he spoke, looking at Tara and seeing her face fall as he did so, so tried to turn to a joking tone, “I mean really, what kind of grandfather would I be if I didn’t do everything I could to make sure my granddaughter got all the time she could with both of her parents? You wouldn’t embarrass an old man in front of his only grandchildren would you?”  
  
  
Willow looked down at the cheque in thought, then behind herself to Tara, who she was surprised to see was near tears.  
  
  
“Baby?” she asked in gently, though with obvious alarm, moving to cup her cheek.  
  
  
Tara dropped her gaze for a moment before speaking in a quiet, almost choked whisper.  
  
  
“I…I don’t know how I’m going to cope going back when she’s just three weeks old.”  
  
  
“Oh Tara,” Willow replied solemnly, stroking her cheek, “Baby, I had no idea. Y-You didn't say.”  
  
  
She felt Tara drop her head against her shoulder and rubbed the back of her neck reassuringly, leaving a kiss on top of her hair before turning back to her father, knowing the decision was made.  
  
  
“Dad, thank you,” she said with the utmost sincerity and felt Tara squeeze her knee, “My beautiful wife says thank you too.”  
  
  
Tara let out a quiet laugh and raised her head, her eyes still glimmering with tears but smiling from ear-to-ear.  
  
  
“We will pay you every penny back, Ira.”  
  
  
Ira nodded in agreement before gesturing again to Willow’s stomach.  
  
  
“Agreed. As long as it’s paid back into a college fund for…” he trailed off for a moment, a wide and happy smile slowly moving its way up his face, “For Robyn.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara quietly made her way up the stairs to check on Willow who had gone up for an afternoon nap. She tiptoed her way across the hall and gently opened the door, not wanting to wake what she was expecting to be her sleeping wife but instead found her playing with their old video camera, moving it around on their dresser.  
  
  
“Video camera?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, shutting the door behind her, “Do you...want to make another sex tape?”  
  
  
Willow looked over and scoffed playfully.  
  
  
“7 months pregnant?” she asked with a look that said ‘you have got to be kidding me’ before smiling widely, “Now that we have a name I thought we could make Robyn a video. Embarrass the crap out of her on her 16th birthday or something.”  
  
  
Tara’s face lit up and answered Willow’s smile.  
  
  
“That’s a great idea, honey,” she said as she walked over and stood next to Willow, “What do we say?”  
  
  
“Sit on the bed,” Willow directed and adjusted the camera so it focused where they’d be sitting, “I dunno, whatever we want. Okay it’s on.”  
  
  
She went and perched next to Tara, shuffling in close and taking her wife’s hand in her lap while she brought the other one up in a wave.  
  
  
“Hi Robyn!” she started warmly, then pointed down at her belly, “This is you, right in here!”  
  
  
Tara laughed quietly and offered her own wave.  
  
  
“Hi Robyn. Happy birthday.”  
  
  
Willow nodded keenly.  
  
  
“Yes, Happy Birthday! Unless you ended up seeing this before your 16th birthday, in which case, Happy Whatever-Day-Of-The-Week-It-Is!” she proclaimed and could see Tara trying not to laugh out of the corner of her eye, “So, we picked your name today. I’m sure we’ve probably bored you with the story a hundred times, but it was a really special moment. I hope you like it. And that don’t hate us for that three ‘R’s thing.”  
  
  
Willow suddenly turned to Tara, wide-eyed.  
  
  
“Maybe we should rethink her name. I mean, her initials are RRRM, it sounds like we’re starting a car or something.”  
  
  
Tara glanced at the camera, then back at Willow.  
  
  
“Her name is Robyn Ruth,” she replied calmly but insistently.  
  
  
Willow nodded slowly and turned to face forward again.  
  
  
“Your name is Robyn,” she said to the camera with a big grin, “I bet your Mom’s still calming my freak-outs.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and decided to say a few words as well.  
  
  
“We can’t even begin to tell you how happy you make our lives already. And whoever you are, whoever you’ve grown to be, I know we’ve loved you for every moment.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement.  
  
  
“We love you. And your brother!” she announced, before frowning for a moment, “Uh, your older brother.”  
  
  
She saw Tara shoot her a confused look at that.  
  
  
“She might have more brothers by then. Or sisters!” she explained, then gestured in front of her, “And we love them too! We love all of you. You’re the apple of our eye, Robyn and we can’t wait to meet you.”  
  
  
“We love you, little bean,” Tara added tenderly, putting her hand on Willow’s stomach and feeling a small flutter straight away, “And you’re grounded for kicking your mother.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and waved at the camera again.  
  
  
“Bye Robyn, we love you!”  
  
  
“We love you,” Tara tacked on for good measure as Willow went to turn the camera off, “Are you sure it’s off? That’s exactly what happened last time…”  
  
  
Willow blushed with an embarrassed smile.  
  
  
“It’s off,” she confirmed, shutting the display panel and holding it in her hands, “I’m going to go save it onto my laptop and back it up and stuff. Thanks for doing that with me! I know it was short but we can always add stuff on if we want. And I can add effects and everything!”  
  
  
Tara watched her wife’s eyes lit up as she thought about how she could play with the clip and smiled softly.  
  
  
“Have fun.”  
  
  
Willow bounced from the room with an excited pep in her step.  
  
  
“I will!”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara’s eyes fluttered open into darkness and her head rose from the pillow in confusion.   
  
  
The LED lights from the alarm clock told her it was still the middle of the night and Willow was snoring softly beside her, but her spidey senses – aka her mommy senses – were tingling. She sat up and looked around, trying to gauge the room and if anything was askew.   
  
  
When she saw and heard nothing, she gently scooted off the bed so as not to disturb Willow and threw a pair of shorts and a tank top over her before walking from the room into the hallway. Her ears instantly picked up a snivelling sound coming from the bathroom and she rushed in to see JJ sitting on the floor, leaning against the bath, eyes red and tears streaming down his face.  
  
  
“JJ,” Tara said in alarm, dropping to her knees and gliding across the floor to him, patting down his front, “What’s wrong? JJ, what’s wrong, are you hurt?”  
  
  
JJ didn’t answer and continued snivelling until Tara reached to pick him up from underneath and he jumped back, trying to move out of her reach.  
  
  
“Don’t!”  
  
  
Tara frowned in concern and reached for him again, managing to grab a hold of him this time and realising what he was upset about when she felt how wet the pants of his pyjamas were.  
  
  
“JJ, it’s okay,” she soothed, rubbing the back of his hair and kissing his forehead, “It’s okay, it doesn’t matter. Accidents happen.”  
  
  
JJ continued crying though accepted being comforted, burying his head into Tara’s neck. After a few moments Tara heard Willow calling her name and looked around just in time to see her at the doorway in an oversized t-shirt, visibly in the first stage of panic.  
  
  
She quickly mouthed ‘he wet the bed’ and saw her clutch her wife heart in relief before putting a hand against the wall to aid herself getting onto her knees and moved towards them, taking over the hugging duties.  
  
  
“Hey, buddy,” she said gently, wiping JJ’s eyes with her thumbs, “Why don’t we get you into the bath so you don’t feel so sticky?”  
  
  
Tara took the cue to leave to take his bedclothes to the washing machine and dropped a kiss on JJ’s head before leaving. Willow helped him out of his pyjamas and threw them outside the door for Tara to collect on her way before turning the taps on to fill the tub.  
  
  
JJ sat in, not crying anymore but still looking crestfallen, and Willow let the water rise a few inches at a warm temperature before turning the taps off again.  
  
  
“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” she said gently as she washed his body down with a washcloth, “Never be too embarrassed to tell me or Mommy anything, okay?”  
  
  
JJ nodded but his head was permanently slumped against his chest. Willow ran some warm water gently down his back.  
  
  
“I had some accidents too when I was a kid.”  
  
  
JJ looked up, uncertain, but hopeful.  
  
  
“You did?”  
  
  
Willow nodded.  
  
  
“Uh huh. Mommy did too, I'm sure. Accidents just happen sometimes,” she explained, then offered a smile, “I bet you were dreaming about all the fun you had in the pool with Grandpa. He said you played Star Wars.”  
  
  
JJ nodded keenly.  
  
  
“I was Luke and Grandpa was Darth Vader and I beat him.”  
  
  
“Ah, because, the Force is with you, always,” Willow grinned, happy her son seemed to be cheering up, “Who would I be?”  
  
  
JJ seemed to think about it for a moment before giggling.  
  
  
“Yoda!”  
  
  
“Yoda?” Willow asked, pulling a face of mock-offence, “Green face, I have not! Wrinkles on this face, there isn’t, hmmmmm!”  
  
  
JJ giggled again, his face not showing any signs of embarrassment anymore and Willow wrung out the washcloth, leaving it on the side of the tub.  
  
  
“Do you feel clean?” she asked and got a definitive nod, “Okay, let’s get you dried off.”  
  
  
He stepped out of the bath while Willow pulled the plug and let it drain before grabbing a towel from the rack and grabbed JJ with it.  
  
  
“Oh no!” she proclaimed as she pretended to attack him with it, “The towel monster got you!”  
  
  
JJ giggled more and pretended to try and fight the ‘monster’ until Tara returned from upstairs, a fresh pair of pyjamas in her hands.  
  
  
“I have jammies,” she announced, kneeling down beside them, “I even put them in the tumble dryer for a minute so they’re extra cosy.”  
  
  
JJ seemed pleased with that and started getting into the new Scooby-doo pyjamas, slipping into the pants and buttoning up the top.  
  
  
“Do you want to sleep in with us tonight?” Willow asked, getting an eager nod in response.  
  
  
He ran ahead of them towards their bedroom and Willow left the towel back on the rack before she and Tara followed JJ.  
  
  
“Are we all gonna fit?” he asked, jumping in place on the bed and casting a sceptical look at Willow’s belly.  
  
  
“Oh I don’t know,” Willow replied with mock-seriousness, scooting onto the bed and grabbing him close, “We might have to snuggle up!”  
  
  
Tara smiled affectionately at the two as she climbed in the other side.  
  
  
“You get comfy, JJ and we’ll fit in around you.”  
  
  
JJ bent his knees up so he was lying in the foetal position between them and above Willow’s belly. Tara didn’t even have a chance to ask him if he was comfortable before his eyes closed and he was drifting into slumber. She pressed her lips lightly against his forehead so as not to wake him and tried to swallow the emotion she felt in the back of her throat.  
  
  
“Baby?” Willow whispered in concern when she saw the look on her wife’s face.  
  
  
“He was scared to tell us,” she said in an emotional whisper, “He was crying in the bathroom alone and he was scared to tell us.”  
  
  
Willow gently shook her head and reached across JJ to stroke Tara’s cheek.  
  
  
“He wasn’t scared, he was embarrassed,” she said softly, reassuringly, “He hasn’t had a wet night since we were potty training him and he probably doesn’t even remember that. He’s a-okay, just had a little accident.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes sought out Willow’s in the dark and felt her fears calmed.  
  
  
“Do you think he’s nervous about something?”  
  
  
Willow smiled and shook her head again.  
  
  
“No, I think I let him have too much juice with dinner,” she said jokingly, though knew it was the likely culprit, then moved her arm down to wrap over JJ and reach for Tara’s hip, “He’s okay, Tara. Look at him. He’s safe and loved and cuddled up between his moms in his favourite jammies.”  
  
  
Tara finally smiled and Willow gave her hip a squeeze.  
  
  
“And you’re safe and loved and cuddled up with your wife and your son and your daughter in my favourite jammies ‘cause I can see your boobs.”  
  
  
Tara bit her lip to stop herself from laughing too loud and Willow’s teeth flashed in the darkness, pleased. She cuddled both herself and JJ in closer and encouraged Tara’s arm over them.  
  
  
“Now hold us close and never let us go.”


	59. Chapter 59

“We’ll definitely have to give him the window seat.”  
  
  
Tara looked up from her magazine at Willow’s voice next to her and looked over to their son, who had his face firmly pressed against the large floor-to-ceiling windows. He was looking out onto the tarmac of the airport where numerous airplanes were at rest and some taking off or landing in the distance, fascinated by their size and movement.  
  
  
“Maybe we have a future pilot on our hands,” she commented with an affectionate smile.  
  
  
“I think we will for the next little while anyway,” Willow replied with a laugh, “I don’t think we’ll be hearing much about firemen for a bit.”  
  
  
Tara closed her magazine and rolled it back into her hand luggage bag.  
  
  
“I hope he doesn’t get scared when we’re taking off or when we get up in the air.”  
  
  
Willow let out a low groan and put her hands on top of her very-swollen stomach.  
  
  
“Hey, I know this trip was my idea, but I’m lugging this one around with me so you’re taking full responsibility for that one.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and put her hand on top of Willow’s.  
  
  
“And how is Robyn feeling today?”  
  
  
Willow frowned a little and shuffled in the plastic chair outside the airport gate.  
  
  
“Kinda jumpy actually but she was like that on the way to Sunnydale too. I think she’s gonna be a feet-on-the-ground kind of girl,” she replied, her frown instantly turning into a smile, “Hey maybe she’ll be like her Mommy and get into gardening.”  
  
  
Tara smiled widely.  
  
  
“Now I’m seeing her trying to lug a big watering can around that’s as big as she is.”  
  
  
Willow’s hand flew to her heart as her eyes creased.  
  
  
“Don’t say things like that, my heart can’t take it,” she said, then bit her lip excitedly, “I can’t believe she’s going to be here in a month. We’ll have her in our arms.”  
  
  
Tara moved her head down to Willow’s shoulder and started to play with her wife’s fingers.  
  
  
“I can’t believe I get to have the first three months with all of you. Your father really is a god in my eyes.”  
  
  
“Don’t tell him that, he’ll get a big head,” Willow joked, turning her hand in Tara’s to entwine their fingers, “I know, it’s wonderful. And I’m so happy too. We’re very lucky, I know some dads in the Bureau who come back the day after their wives give birth.”  
  
  
Tara sighed softly.  
  
  
“I know. It’s so hard to try and strike a balance of caring for your family and providing for them at the same time.”  
  
  
Willow brought Tara’s hand up to her mouth and kissed her knuckles.  
  
  
“It worked out. And we would have made it work out if my dad hadn’t come through,” she replied, smiling at her wife, “Lots of lunch hours with Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara got a pleased smile on her face and leaned over to peck Willow’s lips lightly. They had barely connected for a second when a loud throat-clearing off to the side pulled them apart. Willow looked over to the culprit, a burly middle-aged woman with a fanny pack and vibrant floral-print shirt, and raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
“Problem?”  
  
  
The woman shifted uncomfortably and looked towards them with disdain.  
  
  
“Some people have discretion.”  
  
  
Willow scoffed.  
  
  
“Well it clearly wasn’t you when you bought that shirt.”  
  
  
The woman let out a disgruntled noise and haughtily turned her nose up before standing and marching away to sit on the other side of the gate. Willow rolled her eyes, then turned back to Tara who was giving her a ‘look’.  
  
  
“She started it!” Willow said defensively.  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“I think we did.”  
  
  
“No,” Willow replied pointedly, “I gave my wife a peck just like any number of couples here are and she’s the one who had a problem.”  
  
  
“I know,” Tara said softly, nodding over Willow’s shoulder towards JJ, “But we don’t want to risk a scene in front of him.”  
  
  
Willow huffed a breath out.  
  
  
“So we should teach him that we’re ashamed?”  
  
  
Tara turned her head to the side and issued Willow another ‘look’.  
  
  
“You know that’s not what I meant.”  
  
  
Willow looked suitably chastised and dropped her head to rest against Tara’s chest.  
  
  
“I’m sorry. I’m grouchy thinking about squeezing into the airplane seat again.”  
  
  
Tara ran a hand down her hair and along her arm to retake her hand.  
  
  
“You can have the aisle and I’ll put up the armrests so you can have some of my seat. And it’s only an hour and a half, not six like to Sunnydale.”  
  
  
Willow sighed for a moment and shifted again before starting to perk up slightly when she saw the gate operators arrive and move behind the desk.  
  
  
“I’m pretty excited,” she said, idly playing with Tara’s fingers, “I can’t believe we haven’t been back to Boston, we swore we would.”  
  
  
“Our friends and family all moved out to Buffalo,” Tara replied by way of explanation, “But I’m excited too. And it was a great idea to rent an apartment for the week. Much easier to handle than a hotel with JJ. He can have his own room and so can we. And it was an even better idea to get a place in our old neighbourhood.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and moved to rest her shoulder on Tara’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Yeah, but way nicer than the place we had back then.”   
  
  
Tara shrugged to herself.  
  
  
“I loved our little apartment.”  
  
  
“Well, I mean, yeah, it was…” Willow started to reply, then frowned, “It was small and cramped and we had that awful pervy neighbour.”  
  
  
“Well there’s nothing wrong with small,” Tara responded, dropping a kiss on top of Willow’s head, “It means we’re closer together.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly at that.  
  
  
“You really liked that apartment?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied, smiling, “It was the first place we lived together outside of the dorms. We spent two years there. Lots of happy times.”  
  
  
Willow’s brow creased just a tad.  
  
  
“But you love having a house, and our yard! You’re all with the gardening, every weekend.”  
  
  
Tara laughed quietly in amusement at Willow's assessment of her words and gave her shoulder a squeeze.  
  
  
“I’m not saying I don’t. And we never could have started a family there. But it was perfect for our little you-and-me family.”  
  
  
Willow thought about it for a moment before finally giving a decisive nod of her head.  
  
  
“I guess it was pretty nice. Warm, and cosy,” she responded with a warm-hearted smile, “You’re right. Lots of good times.”  
  
  
She raised her head and moved to kiss Tara again, turning at the last moment to land on her cheek instead so as not to cause any unnecessary drama. Tara smiled back at her but didn’t get a chance to say anything as the PA system suddenly announced boarding for anybody with small children.  
  
  
Tara went off to get JJ while Willow got them a place in line.  
  
  
“We have small children,” she said to the operator as they approached, putting a hand on her belly, “Small and _very_ small children.”  
  
  
The man took their passports and boarding passes, checked them and handed them back. Tara held JJ’s hand as they walked through the tunnel on the way to the plane but he started to hang back as they were about to step on.  
  
  
“It’s okay, honey,” Tara said to him, reassuringly patting his head, but he didn’t budge.  
  
  
She picked him up, not wanting to delay anyone behind them and continued.  
  
  
“Hello sir,” a young female flight attendant with a friendly smile said as they stepped onto the plane, “Is this your first time on an airplane?”   
  
  
JJ nodded silently, his head still half-hiding in Tara’s chest; overwhelmed by both excitement and fear.  
  
  
“What’s your name?” the attendant asked.  
  
  
“JJ,” he answered, slightly hesitant.  
  
  
“Well my name is Brooke,” the woman replied, rooting through a few of the pull-out drawers behind her and produced a small pair of clip-on wings, which she fastened to the front of his t-shirt, “Now you’re part of our flight crew. Welcome, pilot JJ.”  
  
  
JJ looked down at the wings, his eyes wide and began to bounce excitedly in his mother’s arms.  
  
  
“Thank you very much,” Tara said to the woman, getting a warm smile in response as another attendant checked their boarding passes.  
  
  
“Just three rows down.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara repeated to the second attendant as well, then brought them down to their assigned seats, leaving JJ down, “Why don’t you sit at the window so you can look out when we’re up in the air?”  
  
  
JJ scooted in and climbed onto the window seat, holding his small backpack in his arms. Tara sat in the middle seat and arranged their bags under the seats while Willow got herself comfortable.  
  
  
“What’s that?” JJ asked, leaning forward to unlatch the tray table as Tara fastened his safety belt.  
  
  
“That’s a tray,” Tara answered, securing the seat belt tight, “So you can put a drink on it or play with your cars when we’re flying. But it has to stay up for now.”  
  
  
“Why?” JJ asked in curiosity.  
  
  
“Well because they want to make it easy for people to get in and out of their seats,” Tara replied as she put the tray back up.  
  
  
“But we're in our seats,” JJ replied, grinning that he'd out-smarted his mother and reached to turn the dial again, but Tara covered it with her hand and shook her head.  
  
  
“It's just the rule, sweetie, it can't come down until the pilot says so.”  
  
  
JJ seemed annoyed but then discovered the window shade was moveable and amused himself with flapping it up and down. Tara sighed and knew she'd have to put a stop to that too but didn't get a chance as she heard her wife's tongue start to click tongue in aggravation. She turned over to Willow, who had just started to snarl as she watched the obnoxious woman from the gate move into the seats in front of them.  
  
  
“If he kicks her seat, don’t stop him,” she whispered, folding her arms over her chest.  
  
  
“Willow…” Tara replied quietly, shaking her head, then turned back around when she heard JJ at the tray table again, “JJ, it has to stay up until we’re in the air.”  
  
  
Willow continued to glare in the woman’s direction before dropping her arms with a pout.  
  
  
“It’s the seat’s fault.”  
  
  
Tara rubbed her wife’s arm comfortingly.  
  
  
“I’ll put my armrest up as soon as we take off, okay?”  
  
  
Willow’s brow furrowed in a deeper pout and Tara sat back against the seat, blowing a piece of air from her face.  
  
  
 _This is going to be the longest ninety minutes of my life_  
  
  
“Why isn’t the plane moving?” JJ asked with a slight whine.  
  
  
“Everyone has to get on first, sweetie, we’ll be moving soon,” Tara reassured as she leant over to do a final check on his seat belt and pointed out the window, “See, look out there, all those men are putting our bags into the plane.”  
  
  
JJ peered out and was suitably entertained by watching the goings-on on the tarmac until the flight attendant that had welcomed him so kindly began the safety procedure demonstration. Tara had to stop him from attacking the ceiling above when he saw the oxygen mask and wanted to play with it but luckily his attention was diverted as the plane suddenly jolted forwards.  
  
  
“We’re about to take off,” Tara said to him, wiping his hair out of his face, “We’re going to go really fast.”  
  
  
JJ braced himself with a hand on either armrest as they taxied along the runway, his eyes growing wide as they got faster and faster, then he began kicking wildly as he felt the bump from ground to air.  
  
  
“That was so cool!”  
  
  
“And now we’re up in the air,” Tara said with a smile that it had been an uneventful take-off.  
  
  
JJ engrossed himself in watching the people and buildings get smaller and smaller out the window until they were cruising high enough that only sky could be seen. Tara turned to Willow whose face was set in a permanent scowl, so she lifted the armrest as promised and let her spill out into her seat.  
  
  
“Is that better?”  
  
  
Willow features visibly relaxed and she nodded.  
  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
  
“Why not you close your eyes for a while? The flight will fly by,” Tara replied, bumping Willow’s shoulder lightly with a grin, “Get it?”  
  
  
Willow tried to look annoyed at the bad pun but couldn’t conceal the deeply affectionate smile on her lips.  
  
  
“You’re such a cutie.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and took the small pillow that had been on her seat when they got on the plane and left it on her shoulder, gesturing for Willow to lie on her. Willow did so, enabling her to shift her body in a way that she couldn’t even tell she was squashed into a seat.  
  
  
Tara dropped a kiss on her head and plucked the magazine from the seat pocket in front that she’d brought with her. She flicked open the first page and began to read.  
  
  
She was happily surprised that she wasn’t disturbed until she had practically made her way through it completely.  
  
  
“Mommy?”  
  
  
She peered up from her magazine at the sound of JJ’s voice and looked over to him, careful not to disturb the sleeping Willow on her shoulder, who had thankfully nodded off not long after becoming settled.  
  
  
“Yes, sweetie?”  
  
  
JJ has his face pressed against the window and was intently watching everything outside.  
  
  
“What’s the white stuff?”  
  
  
Tara smiled at her son’s less-hyper curiosity and left her magazine in the seat pocket in front of her.  
  
  
“Those are the clouds.”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes widened and his hand went to the window, like he was trying to reach through it.  
  
  
“Real clouds? That you see up in the sky?”  
  
  
“We’re in the sky,” Tara replied, pointing out the window, “We’re inside the clouds right now.”  
  
  
JJ’s face was filled with wonder and awe and he looked at Tara for a moment.  
  
  
“Is this magic?”  
  
  
Tara gave a half-smile and stroked his hair lovingly.  
  
  
“It’s a kind of magic.”  
  
  
JJ seemed to contemplate that for a moment before bouncing upwards excitedly.  
  
  
“Cool!”  
  
  
He started to look up the window again but quickly looked up as he recognised the friendly flight attendant from earlier approaching them. His cheeks lightly flushed as he saw her and only got redder when she stopped at their aisle and held out a small foam plane.  
  
  
“Every pilot needs a plane to captain.”  
  
  
JJ reached out to take the toy and held it between his hands in reverence.  
  
  
“Wow, JJ,” Tara said as she watched him, “What do you say?”  
  
  
“Thank you,” he said, not looking up as he carefully examined the plane  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara added with a grateful smile before the attendant left again.  
  
  
JJ started to fly his plane around the space in front of him just as the real captain came over the speaker system to announce their descent. Tara made sure both hers and JJ’s seatbelt was secure again, then tried to gently lower the armrest back down between her and Willow, though didn’t succeed as the redhead’s eyes instantly opened at the fresh feeling of being squashed.  
  
  
“Sorry,” Tara said apologetically, “We’re getting ready to land.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in acknowledgement and readjusted herself a little as she rubbed her eyes.  
  
  
“That wasn’t so bad.”  
  
  
Tara took her hand on top of the armrest and gave it a squeeze.  
  
  
“You slept most of the way.”  
  
  
Willow turned her neck from side to side for a moment before settling and shooting Tara a little smile.  
  
  
“Sorry I was being cranky-pants.”  
  
  
Tara mouthed ‘it’s okay’ and brought her wife’s hand up to kiss her knuckles before grinning slightly and nodding over at their son.  
  
  
“I think JJ has a girlfriend.”  
  
  
JJ looked up with a fresh blush and wide eyes.  
  
  
“A girlfriend?” Willow asked with a hidden smirk.  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara replied, not doing so well in hiding her grin, “Brooke.”  
  
  
Willow looked befuddled.  
  
  
“Who’s that?”  
  
  
“The flight attendant,” Tara whispered to her.  
  
  
Willow got an understanding look on her face and shot a teasing smile in JJ’s direction.  
  
  
“So your girlfriend, huh?”  
  
  
“No!” JJ replied, turning so his back was to them.  
  
  
Willow giggled quietly, as did Tara and JJ’s flush died down as he experienced the exhilarating rush of the plane landing.  
  
  
“Can we go everywhere on an airplane?” he asked giddily, jumping around as they waited for their luggage to come through the carousel.  
  
  
“I’m afraid not,” Willow answered regrettably, “But we do get to come on one again next week when we’re going back home.”  
  
  
JJ seemed pleased at that but his focus was changed as the baggage carousel suddenly starting moving and he made a run for it, scooting past Willow before she had a chance to grab him.  
  
  
“Tara!”  
  
  
Tara spun around as she heard her wife calling her name and managed to pull the back of his shirt as he tried to skid past her, to much protest.  
  
  
“I wanna sit on it!” JJ whined, amazed at the movements of the conveyor belt.  
  
  
“You can’t, honey, it’s dangerous,” Tara replied calmly, “Everyone’s bags are going to be on it and you could break it or hurt yourself.”  
  
  
JJ crossed his arms over his chest and started to pout before trying to make another run for it. Willow caught him this time.  
  
  
“Hey, what did your mother just say?” she asked with a stern look down, only for JJ to plop himself on the ground, arms still crossed. Willow sighed and fished her cell from her pocket, “Do you want to play angry birds on my phone?”  
  
  
JJ sullenly nodded and Willow handed over the phone to stop any arguments before leaning against the luggage cart, rubbing the back of her neck.  
  
  
“What’s an angry bird?” Tara asked her, taking over the neck rubbing.  
  
  
Willow looked over her shoulder at her wife with a coy smile.  
  
  
“I think you’re the only person in the country that doesn’t know. It’s a game.”  
  
  
Tara gently but insistently squeezed Willow’s shoulders.  
  
  
“An angry game?”  
  
  
Willow turned and took Tara’s hand reassuringly.  
  
  
“No, no honey. It’s just called that because the little character birds have angry faces. But not scary ones. It’s basically just knocking down a bunch of things to get points.”  
  
  
Tara smiled then nodded down towards JJ who was tapping away at the phone.  
  
  
“He uses that thing better than I do.”  
  
  
Willow chuckled and kissed her wife’s cheek.  
  
  
“Poor Tara. You’ve had your cell a year and you still can’t use the touchscreen.”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes, embarrassed.  
  
  
“There was nothing wrong with using buttons.”  
  
  
Willow pretended to look stern.  
  
  
“Hey, I spent good money on that fancy phone for you.”  
  
  
Tara shot her a wry look.  
  
  
“ _We_ spent good money and got them as part of an upgrade plan, so don’t even try that,” she replied before smiling softly, “I do like the picture that comes up when you ring me. And I am getting used to typing messages without real buttons.”  
  
  
“That’s my girl,” Willow replied proudly, “I’ll make a tech-head out of you yet. I can’t wait to get the new one.”  
  
  
“New one?” Tara asked in confusion, “What’s wrong, did you drop it? It looks like it’s working fine.”  
  
  
“No, it is,” Willow replied with a small shrug, “But they have a newer model. Better camera and all sorts of stuff.”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow.  
  
  
“You’re going to get a brand new phone even though this one is working fine?”  
  
  
Willow gulped at her wife’s tone before dropping her voice to a whine.  
  
  
“It’s new, Tara. And shiny.”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes, but smiled good-naturedly and turned Willow again to resume rubbing her neck.  
  
  
“Just don’t tell me how much it costs.”  
  
  
Willow grinned and looked over her shoulder.  
  
  
“Secrecy is the heart of any good marriage.”  
  
  
Tara chuckled and kissed Willow’s cheek before noticing the first of the bags coming out and went to collect theirs before JJ decided to make another escape attempt.   
  
  
Their suitcase luckily came around in the first rotation and Willow brought JJ to get a snack while Tara sorted out their rental car.   
  
  
“I don’t like this seat,” JJ whined as he squirmed in the booster seat while Tara tried to strap him in.  
  
  
Tara sighed as she clicked everything into place.  
  
  
“It’s no different from your seat at home.”  
  
  
JJ squirmed some more and scowled.  
  
  
“It’s bumpy!”  
  
  
Tara dropped her head against the metal frame of the car and sighed again in frustration before feeling Willow’s hand on her hip.  
  
  
“I’ll do it,” she whispered, letting Tara go to drop their bags in the trunk while she leaned into the car to adjust the seat until it was safe and spoke gently, “Tired, buddy?”   
  
  
JJ’s scowl eased but didn’t leave completely so Willow kissed the top of his head in comfort.   
  
  
“Well we just need to drive to the place that we’re staying and then you can watch a DVD and have a nap okay? We’re gonna have a lot of fun here, I promise. There’s an aquarium and a kid’s museum with a life size chess board. And we’re going to go on boats shaped like swans!”  
  
  
Both Tara, now in the driver’s seat, and JJ brightened at that and Willow gave the booster seat a final check before making her way around to the passenger seat and looked between them both with a playful wagging finger.  
  
  
“This now concludes our only screening of The Grumpy Bunch Take A Vacation. Stay tuned the rest of the week for The Fun And Fancy-Free Frolics Of The Rosenberg-Maclay’s.”  
  
  
Tara shot a crooked smile in her wife’s direction and turned the engine on as Willow secured her seatbelt.  
  
  
“I hope I still know my way around.”  
  
  
“I’m sure it’ll come back to us even if we don’t straight away,” Willow replied before turning to Tara in thought, “Hey, isn’t there a Whole Foods right across from the realtor on Cambridge Street? I could run in with JJ while you’re getting the keys and get a few groceries.”  
  
  
Tara nodded, pulling out of the lot and following the directions for the exits.  
  
  
“It might be gone, sweetie, but we’ll check. We’ll definitely pick up some cereal and tea and things though. Good thinking.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and settled back into the seat.  
  
  
“At least it’s not long into the city,” she commented as she rolled down the window to let some cool air in.  
  
  
It indeed wasn’t long until they were in the hustle of bustle of cars in the city, Tara sighing and tapping her fingers against the wheel.  
  
  
“I forgot how badly signed this city is.”  
  
  
Willow looked around and pointed out the window.  
  
  
“It’s the next le–”  
  
  
“I know,” Tara smiled softly, “I remember. But it must be impossible for tourists who haven’t been here before to try and get around.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement, then covered Tara’s hand on the steering wheel for a moment, giving it a squeeze.  
  
  
“It’s nice to be back.”  
  
  
Tara stalled the car at a stoplight and leaned over to pop a kiss on Willow’s lips.  
  
  
“It is.”  
  
  
The light changed to green and Tara took the next left onto the street where they were collecting the keys for the apartment they had rented. She pulled up on the curb when she saw a free space and pointed up ahead with a smile.  
  
  
“Whole Foods is standing strong,” she said before looking over her shoulder at JJ, “Do you want to go shopping with Momma?”  
  
  
JJ shrugged, then nodded and Tara looked back to Willow.  
  
  
“Do you want to just cook in tonight and settle in or go out?”  
  
  
Willow exhaled slowly as she thought.  
  
  
“Plan to go out, prepare to stay in?”  
  
  
“The Mother’s Mantra,” Tara joked with a smile, “Okay just get some things for him and maybe some grapes and stuff for snacks. We can always order in for us.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes lit up at that.  
  
  
“I wonder if that great Chinese place is still around. Remember the sesame chicken?”  
  
  
Tara shot Willow a tamed but sultry look.  
  
  
“I remember the electricity going out one night and surrounding ourselves with candles and then feeding it to each other.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and cast a glance back at JJ who was playing with his toy plane again, and moved a hand to Tara’s thigh.  
  
  
“Maybe we’ll reminisce a little later.”  
  
  
Tara covered Willow’s hand with her own and squeezed it, before lifting it away and leaning over to peck her lips.  
  
  
“Will you get me a vitamin water? Cranberry.”  
  
  
“Sure thing,” Willow replied with an affectionate smile before opening the door of the car to exit, “Okay, come on buddy.”  
  
  
Tara got her purse from the backseat while Willow helped JJ out of his booster seat and waved them off as they made their way down the street to the grocery store. She locked the car and went to the crosswalk to walk to the other side, finding the realtor offices she was looking for right on the corner.  
  
  
She got the keys and filled out the paperwork for the apartment before returning back outside, rushing across the street when she saw Willow and JJ standing at the car already, two full paper bags at their feet.  
  
  
“Sorry,” she said as she approached, clicking the button her keys to unlock the car and moved to open the trunk.  
  
  
“No problem,” Willow replied, helping her put the groceries in the trunk, then handed Tara a bottle of red liquid, “For you.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and kissed Willow’s cheek before they all tumbled back into the car. It only took a few more minutes until they were in the familiar neighbourhood where they lived after college.  
  
  
“It looks the same,” Willow said fondly as she looked out the window, “A few more Starbucks.”  
  
  
Tara smiled, quietly observing their old neighbourhood as well. She slowed as they passed their old apartment block and Willow pointed it out to JJ.  
  
  
“Hey, me and Mommy used to live in there.”  
  
  
JJ’s brow creased in confusion.  
  
  
“Where was our house?”  
  
  
“Someone else lived there,” Willow replied.  
  
  
JJ’s confusion just seemed to further increase.  
  
  
“I don’t ‘member living in there.”  
  
  
Willow looked back at him with a smile.  
  
  
“You weren’t born yet.”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes darted back and forth as he tried to contemplate his parents even existing before he was born and remembered the story he was told when they had been telling him about his adoption.  
  
  
“Did you come on an airplane to get me when I was lost in the ‘ospital?”  
  
  
Willow glanced at Tara who just shrugged, so she smiled and nodded.  
  
  
“We sure did.”  
  
  
JJ nodded to himself, happy with the explanation. Tara made a few more turns until they were on the right street and stopped outside the tall building on the corner.  
  
  
“This is definitely new. I thought it would be, I didn’t remember an apartment block being on this street when we lived here.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement and they drove into the small parking lot at the side before gathering their belongings from the car and went into the building, rounding the corner to their ground floor apartment.  
  
  
Willow opened the door since Tara’s hands were full carrying their suitcase and the heavier of the grocery bags.   
  
  
The door opened into a sleek, spacious living space with dark hardwood floors, with two plush, red sofas and a large flat-screen TV mounted on the wall between them. There was a roomy, stainless-steel, fully-equipped kitchen just right of the doorway and doors to the bedrooms on opposite sides of the apartment.  
  
  
“Wow,” Tara said as she stepped in behind Willow, “You said it was nice but I wasn’t expecting this.”  
  
  
“Doesn’t your missus always deliver? Willow replied with a grin and wink in Tara’s direction.  
  
  
“This place is cool!” JJ exclaimed as he bounced into the apartment and looked around, “Where’s my room?”  
  
  
Willow left the light bag of groceries in her hands on the counter in the kitchen and took JJ’s hand.  
  
  
“I think it’s this one, buddy.”  
  
  
She led him over to the left bedroom, which had been advertised as set up for a child, set up with cartoon character bed sheets and some toys. Tara left her bag of groceries next to Willows and wheeled their luggage into the other bedroom, nicely set up with oak furniture and crisp, white sheets.  
  
  
She started unpacking their suitcase, sorting their clothes into piles on the bed ready to be put away until she heard footsteps come up behind her and felt a hand on her shoulder a moment later.  
  
  
“He said he wanted to unpack his backpack all by himself.”  
  
  
Tara smiled as she smoothed out some shirts.  
  
  
“Great job on this place, honey. I’m really looking forward to just talking a walk around and seeing the old neighbourhood.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and pulled Tara to her for a sweet kiss.  
  
  
“Watch out, Boston. We’re back.”


	60. Chapter 60

  
  
“Where are we going now, where are we going now?” JJ asked excitedly from the backseat of the car, proudly wearing a New England Aquarium cap on his head and carrying a blue, foil balloon with a stingray on it.  
  
  
Tara smiled affectionately at him through the rear-view mirror, happy he’d had such a good morning at the aquarium. It was their first full day in Boston, having stayed mostly indoors after arriving to the apartment the day before; the flight having worn both Willow and JJ out. Everyone had woken up feeling fresh and it was decided they’d visit the aquarium and then decide what to do from there.  
  
  
She watched JJ pull his balloon up and down with glee then rolled her eyes playfully when she saw Willow also bouncing in the passenger seat, wearing the same cap.  
  
  
“What do you think? Take him to see Quincy Market or drop the car back at the apartment and take the T to the gardens for old times’ sake?”  
  
  
“Gardens!” Willow replied enthusiastically before looking over the seat to JJ, “Remember the turtle?!”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes went wide and he nodded keenly.  
  
  
“She was, she was like a hundred years old!”  
  
  
Tara smiled and idly listened to her son and wife talk excitedly about the aquatic wildlife they’d seen as she followed the streets back to their apartment.   
  
  
“Noooo I don’t wanna go home!” JJ whined as he saw them pulling up.  
  
  
“We’re not,” Tara replied to him as she shut the engine off, “Just a quick pee break and then we’re going on a train.”  
  
  
“A train?” JJ asked, his face lighting up, “Cool!”  
  
  
They all bundled into the apartment and took turns using the bathroom, and JJ tied his balloon to his bed while Tara filled her purse with some juice boxes and animal crackers to stop any hunger-filled tantrums that might appear as the day wore on – from wife or son.  
  
  
“Okay, everyone ready?” she asked as they gathered back at the door and got two answering nods, “Well then let me just…”  
  
  
She grabbed a small bottle of sunblock from her purse and started reapplying it to JJ’s arms and face. He squirmed a little but didn’t try to protest, knowing it would be futile. When she finished, she stood and started doing the same to Willow, who swatted her away.  
  
  
“I’m not a child.”  
  
  
“Well you’re carrying my child, so let me help,” Tara replied, resuming her actions. She made sure the white lotion was rubbed into her wife’s face until it was just lightly shimmering, then kissed her nose, “As much as I love those freckles, it’s not worth the risk.”  
  
  
Willow blushes a little and smiled shyly.  
  
  
“Do you want to go walk around the campus and then go to the gardens? He’ll get bored of the T if we do too many rides this week so we could take the opportunity while he’s excited.”  
  
  
“Good idea,” Tara smiled, taking Willow’s hand, “Let’s go.”  
  
  
They walked hand in hand with JJ in front of them back out of the building and onto the street. The sun was beating down but there was a light breeze in the air that cut through the heat and made it bearable while they walked the familiar route to the nearest T station.  
  
  
“God, it’s all so déjà vu-y,” Willow said, looking around as they walked, “I feel like I’m coming to collect you from work or heading out to one of the many interviews I didn’t get.”  
  
  
“Well, aren’t you glad?” Tara asked, lowering her voice a tad, “No FBI job means no Buffalo which means no…”  
  
  
She nodded towards JJ who was skipping ahead in front and Willow smiled widely.  
  
  
“Never been happier to have left college during a recession.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and swung their hands a little between them, stopping as they arrived at the T station.  
  
  
“JJ, in here,” she called and JJ diligently turned on his heels and skidded back to them, looking around in fascination as they went in and got their rail cards.  
  
  
They only had to wait a few minutes before the train arrived and JJ instantly rushed up to the only spare seat and sat on his knees, looking out the window with rapt attention, despite there only being a brick wall on the other side yet. Tara went over and was about to pull him away so Willow could sit when the man next to him stood and offered her his seat instead.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Willow smiled at him graciously, “I can pull him away if you want to sit.”  
  
  
The man smiled and shook his head.  
  
  
“I loved trains when I was a kid too.”  
  
  
Willow tugged at JJ’s sleeve.  
  
  
“Say thank you.”  
  
  
JJ looked behind himself and offered a toothy grin.  
  
  
“Thanks, mister.”  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara added kindly to him as she held onto the same handrail.  
  
  
The train jolted into movement and JJ had his face pressed right against the window before Willow pulled him away and made him stay an inch back.   
  
  
“I don’t miss public transport,” Tara said to Willow with a small crooked smile as people bumped into her from all angles.  
  
  
“You were the one who wanted to do this,” Willow giggled in response.  
  
  
“I know, I know,” Tara replied with a soft smile, “I did. I do. It’s nice to remember.”  
  
  
Willow smirked a little.  
  
  
“And appreciate the beauty of our cars?”  
  
  
Tara grinned but didn’t get a chance to say anything as JJ pulled Willow’s attention away, firing questions at her about the train and how it worked.  
  
  
“Next stop,” Tara said to Willow after a while, her and JJ still conversing about the train.  
  
  
“I better start trying to stand now,” Willow replied jokingly, though did just that.  
  
  
The train came to a screeching halt a minute later and Tara had to quickly grab a hold of Willow’s waist to stop her from falling. She grabbed JJ’s hand and helped them both from the train, out of the station and onto the street, sighing as she did so.  
  
  
“Okay, that’s enough remembering that. I think I should get the T back by myself and come collect you guys. You can take JJ to the playground.”  
  
  
“That seems a little extreme, Tara,” Willow replied, holding JJ’s hand firmly as people whooshed past them.  
  
  
Tara raised an eyebrow and shook her head.  
  
  
“You were lucky to get a seat this time. I don’t want you standing for an hour and getting pushed around. I should have thought about before.”  
  
  
Willow contemplated that for a moment and nodded.  
  
  
“Okay, yeah, you’re right. But we’ll worry about that later,” she replied, holding her arm out.  
  
  
Tara smiled and linked her arm with Willow and they started walking the short way to the Boston College campus.  
  
  
“This is where we went to college, JJ,” Tara said as they approached, feeling a tingle of nostalgia as she saw the unchanged alma mater.  
  
  
“What’s college?” JJ asked curiously, looking around the vast campus.  
  
  
“College is where some people go when they finish high school to learn about the job they’re going to do,” Willow explained as simply as she could, “But it’s also where me and Mommy met each other.”  
  
  
JJ seemed surprised.  
  
  
“You didn’t always know ‘chuder?”   
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“No, we didn’t meet until we were twenty years old.”  
  
  
“Actually your mother was only nineteen,” Tara cut in and Willow stared at her.  
  
  
“Good idea, tell our son you’re a cradle robber.”  
  
  
Tara just shot her a smile and brought JJ onto the path and up a few feet before dropping to his level.  
  
  
“We met right here.”  
  
  
JJ looked around as if he was trying to find some kind of special marker for the area, but just saw grass and trees.  
  
  
“You did?”  
  
  
Tara nodded.  
  
  
“Your Momma spilled her coffee all over me.”  
  
  
“Hey,” Willow whined from above, “I paid for the dry cleaning.”  
  
  
JJ nodded in acceptance but then leaned closer to her.  
  
  
“What’s dry cleaning?”  
  
  
Tara laughed and scooped JJ up in her arms, standing again.  
  
  
“It’s just a special kind of laundry,” she explained, then turned them around to face in a different direction, “Hey, see that building over there?”  
  
  
JJ nodded and Willow came up beside them, leading them towards their old dorm building.  
  
  
“That’s where we lived when we were in college here.”  
  
  
JJ’s brow creased.  
  
  
“You lived in lotta places.”  
  
  
“Well you see we lived here while we went to college but when it finished-,” Tara started to explain but cut herself off when she saw her wife approaching the window to what had been their dorm room, “Willow get away from that window!”  
  
  
Willow continued trying to peer in over the shrub beneath it.  
  
  
“I just want to see if it looks the same! It’s summer, nobody’s in there!”  
  
  
“ _We_ were in there during summers,” Tara replied pointedly, “And do you remember what we did to pass the time?”  
  
  
Willow jumped away from the window at that and came back to them.  
  
  
“So, wanna go to the gardens?” she asked with a nervous chuckle, “Swan boats, maybe an animal-crack-and-juice-box picnic?”  
  
  
She shot a hopeful, winning smile in Tara’s direction, who just rolled her eyes a little and looked back to JJ.  
  
  
“Would you like to see where me and Momma got married?”  
  
  
JJ shrugged.  
  
  
“Okay.”  
  
  
Tara set him back on the ground and turned to Willow.  
  
  
“Do you have enough cash on you for a cab or do we need to go to an ATM?”   
  
  
Willow checked her wallet and confirmed she had enough money, so they all bundled into the back seat of a taxi, which dropped them at the entrance to the public gardens fifteen minutes later.   
  
  
“Wow,” JJ said, his eyes wide as he walked between his two mothers, a hand in each of theirs, into the gardens, “This is a big park!”  
  
  
“It sure is,” Tara replied, smiling down at him, “And this is where me and Momma got married. Do you remember the photograph of us in the white dresses above the fire at home? That was our wedding day, right here.”  
  
  
JJ looked around as they walked along the paths, admiring the vastness and colours, then stopped for a moment at the large equestrian statue of George Washington. Willow noticed his interest and smiled.  
  
  
“Do you know who this is?”  
  
  
JJ examined the statue and shrugged.  
  
  
“A horse?”  
  
  
“Do you know who’s on the horse?” she asked and JJ shook his head, “That’s George Washington. He was the very first president. You know, he could never tell a lie.”  
  
  
“Really?” JJ asked, intrigued.  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Willow replied and started to recount the tale of the cherry tree.  
  
  
JJ seemed interested in the story and happily listened as he skipped along until he caught sight of the pond and started to jump and down excitedly.  
  
  
“Swans!”  
  
  
“Their names are Romeo and Juliet,” Willow explained, deciding to forego that tale until he was a little older to understand the tragedy of the star-crossed lovers, “You know they’ve lived here since before we were even in college. They’re in swan-love.”   
  
  
“But they’re _actually_ Juliet and Juliet,” Tara added, smiling at the birds, who were floating around next to each other.  
  
  
Willow spun her head around, confused.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
“They’re both female,” Tara said, looking curiously at Willow, “You didn’t know that?”  
  
  
“Um, no!” Willow replied, grinning, “That’s awesome!”  
  
  
“What’s awesome?” JJ asked, looking between them.  
  
  
“The swans are both girls,” Willow said, ruffling her son’s hair, “Like me and Mommy.”  
  
  
JJ just shrugged, not seeing what was particularly awesome about that – it was normal for him.   
  
  
“Can we feed them?”  
  
  
Willow looked regretful.  
  
  
“Um, I don’t thi–”  
  
  
“I brought some bread,” Tara cut in with a smile, opening her purse and producing a small baggie with a couple of slices of bread torn into quarters, “But they might not be hungry, okay? We can't force them.”  
  
  
JJ nodded as he was handed the bag and started to tear off smaller pieces of the bread and throw them into the water. He started to pout when the swans bypassed them but instantly perked up when they circled back and started nipping at the offerings.  
  
  
“They’re eating it!” he beamed, tearing and throwing more bread into the water.  
  
  
“Juliet and Juliet,” Willow whispered to Tara with a grin, “I can’t believe I didn’t know that. It’d be a lot sweeter if swans weren’t notoriously vicious.”  
  
  
“Only when protecting their young,” Tara replied, her hand placed firmly on JJ’s shoulder, “I think we can understand that.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and put a hand on her belly, feeling some small movements against it when she did so. JJ finished feeding the birds with what he had, then spotted one of the swan boats ahead and all but jumped out of his skin at the prospect of being able to sail around the pond.   
  
  
They brought him over to where the swan boats were docked and paid the fee; JJ scrambling right to back bench, looking at and feeling the fake swans that sat there with glee. Willow and Tara sat either of him, their heads leaning towards each other as the boat started to glide further into the water and around the pond.  
  
  
“Hey, who would’ve thought?” Willow said quietly, nodding down at JJ and putting a hand on her belly, “All those years ago, that first ride…all of this?”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly.  
  
  
“It’s kinda nice when dreams come true.”  
  
  
Willow leant her head down to rest on Tara’s shoulder and affectionately stroked JJ’s hair.  
  
  
“It kinda is.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“He’s fast asle…” Willow trailed off as she re-entered the living space of the apartment.  
  
  
The only light in the room came from numerous flickering candles which were placed at various points and at various heights around the room, just bright enough to reveal Tara kneeling in the middle of the floor, spacing out some white containers.  
  
  
She looked up when she heard Willow’s voice and smiled.  
  
  
“I ordered Chinese food. We talked about maybe reminiscing a little last night but never got around to it…”  
  
  
Willow beamed and walked over excitedly, kneeling beside Tara.  
  
  
“Sesame chicken?”  
  
  
Tara sat back and picked up one of two pairs of chopsticks near her and used them to pick up a piece of chicken from one of the containers, holding it out. Willow scooted closer to Tara and slowly wrapped her lips around the offering, dragging it away from the utensils.  
  
  
“Good?” Tara asked in a low whisper, intently watching Willow’s mouth.  
  
  
“Delicious,” Willow replied, purposing licking her lips before taking the second set of chopsticks and dipping into the same container, “Try some.”  
  
  
Tara bit the top of the chicken off, making sure to bear her teeth as she did so, then swallowed and took the rest in the same seductive manner Willow had.  
  
  
“You were right. Delicious.”  
  
  
They continued to feed each other from the selection of steamed dumplings, vegetable Lo Mein and the rest of the chicken, interspersed with soft kisses and whispered words of affection until the containers were empty and their mouths were kept busy with each other’s.  
  
  
“Whaddya say we go burn off that delicious meal off?” Willow whispered, her hands massaging the back of Tara’s neck and into her scalp.  
  
  
“Mmhh, yes please,” Tara whispered back, her hand sliding down her wife’s back to her hip, nipping at her lips for a moment, “I’ll meet you in there.”  
  
  
She helped Willow stand up and pulled her in for another quick kiss before turning and lightly patting her behind. Willow giggled and scooted of while Tara blew out the candles and gathered them all in the corner, then took up the empty food containers to trash.  
  
  
She practically skipped excitedly to the bedroom and closed the door, seeing Willow almost completely naked, in a hurry to try and rid herself of the rest of her clothes. She went over and caught her from behind, stopping her movements.  
  
  
“Hey, what’s the rush?” she murmured, her lips beginning a trail along Willow’s shoulder blade and hands slipping under the waistband of her panties.  
  
  
Willow instinctively tilted her neck and gave a soft sigh.  
  
  
“I-I was gonna be ready for you in bed,” she replied, embarrassed, before tacking on sheepishly, “It’s not exactly the sexiest sight in the world watching an 8 months pregnant woman trying to climb in.”  
  
  
Tara turned Willow around and put her hands on the back of her neck, leaning down to kiss her.  
  
  
“It is when the 8 months pregnant woman is you.”  
  
  
Willow’s cheeks flushed as Tara’s lips brushed against hers and she reached up to sweep some hair away from her wife’s face.  
  
  
“How many times do I have to tell you to stop making me swoon?”  
  
  
Tara just smiled in a way that made Willow feel her heart skip a beat and started to guide them towards the bed. She helped Willow lie down and spent several minutes slowly dragging her gaze down her wife’s body.  
  
  
Willow felt her breath quicken as Tara let her fingertips follow her eyes, just barely grazing her skin but sending fiery tingles through her with each touch. She wiggled her hips when she felt Tara start to pull her panties off, the last of her clothing, and gulped at the lusty gaze that continued to be thrust upon her.  
  
  
“Y-you know it’s pretty bad… etiquette to um…sit there in all your clothes while I’m naked.”  
  
  
Tara slipped off the end of the bed and brought her hands to the base of her shirt with a half-smile.   
  
  
“Well you know how important I think politeness is.”  
  
  
Willow pushed herself up a little in the bed so she could see over her bump and enjoyed the show Tara put on of stripping herself until the last garment fell to the floor. She bit the side of her lip as she took her turn in dragging her eyes along her wife’s nude form and exhaled slowly as Tara sat back between her legs.  
  
  
“It’s good you’re so…well-mannered.”  
  
  
“It’s an important trait,” Tara replied, bending Willow’s knees upwards and caressing her thighs.  
  
  
Willow let out a soft sigh as Tara dropped her lips against her belly and hands roamed around her hips and legs. Her moans started quiet but grew in volume as Tara’s hand slipped between her legs and began to tease her folds. Her back arched a little and a gruff sound left her mouth before she suddenly reached for Tara’s wrist.  
  
  
“W-wait.”  
  
  
Tara kept her hand between Willow’s legs and lay down beside her, dropping her head into her wife’s neck.  
  
  
“Don’t worry, I’m not rushing,” she whispered, trailing her lips up to Willow’s and sucking her bottom lip into her mouth.  
  
  
Willow moaned against Tara’s lips and pushed her tongue into her wife’s mouth. Her hands went to the back of Tara’s head to bring their mouths closer together for a deep, passionate kiss until she felt some dextrous fingertips start to move over the sensitive tip of her clit and pulled away with a jolt.  
  
  
Tara dropped her head into Willow’s neck again as she moved her fingers back and forth, kissing and licking at her sensitive skin and loving the moans floating down to her ears until she felt a pulling at her wrist again.  
  
  
“T-that wasn’t what I was ‘wait’-ing.”  
  
  
Tara stilled her hand and lifted her head, concerned.  
  
  
“Are you okay?” she asked softly, “Am I hurting you?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head reassuringly, then swallowed, embarrassed; wanting to bring up a certain imbalance between them over the past few weeks as her bump had really started to stretch out, but was self-conscious about the whole ordeal.  
  
  
“You’ve been really generous lately,” she eventually managed to say plainly, only to get a confused look from Tara, “You know, in the bedroom department…sexy-snuggles division.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her gaze a moment, flushing. Willow idly toyed with her fingers before clearing her throat.  
  
  
“You’ve been all with the giving and I haven’t been any with the returning.”  
  
  
Tara lovingly stroked Willow’s cheek.  
  
  
“It’s okay, I understand.”  
  
  
“I need to sit down after walking the stairs,” Willow rambled off in explanation, still obviously embarrassed, “So you know…warm and fuzzy happys make for a very sleepy Willow.”  
  
  
“I know,” Tara replied with a genuine smile, “I understand. It’s okay.”  
  
  
Willow turned herself onto her sit and put a hand on Tara’s hip.  
  
  
“I want to. Please,” she said, then gave a small smile, “And if giving with the Willow-lovin’ doesn’t wear me out, maybe I could get a little bit of Tara-lovin’ after.”  
  
  
Tara giggled a little and smiled at her wife.  
  
  
“Okay.”  
  
  
Willow grinned excitedly and leant forward as much as she could, Tara meeting her halfway so they could kiss. She let her fingers splay out over Tara’s hip to dig into the fleshiness of her buttocks. After several minutes of passionate kissing and feeling overcome at the sensation of Tara gently but needily clawing at her breasts, she started to try and reach down between her wife’s leg.  
  
  
She puffed out a breath of irritation when her swollen stomach hindered her efforts and tried to reach under herself to get to Tara, but to no avail either.  
  
  
“Lift your leg a bit,” she said, slapping Tara’s hip lightly in indication.  
  
  
Tara bent her knee up a little, but stopped after just an inch, frowning.  
  
  
“I don’t want to put any weight on your belly.”  
  
  
“Yeah, I know…” Willow replied with the same look on her face before gesturing a turning motion with her hand, “Turn around.”  
  
  
Tara complied and turned so her back was to Willow. She felt the bump knock against her back repeatedly and heard groans of frustration as Willow tried to twist around in a way that would give her enough reach to get where she needed to go but couldn’t quite make it.  
  
  
“Willow,” Tara started gently, looking over her shoulder to offer a smile, “I don’t think this is going to work…”  
  
  
Willow’s face fell and her eyes creased as if she was about to cry.  
  
  
“You don’t want me, do you?”  
  
  
“More than anything,” Tara replied emphatically, then gave a joking smile to lighten the mood, “The shower head can only cut it for so long.”  
  
  
Willow blushed but smiled too and bit the side of her lip in thought.  
  
  
“I can’t reach pass my belly like this. What if you were on your hands and knees?”  
  
  
Tara gave Willow a tender kiss and nuzzled her nose for a moment for moving up onto her hands and knees. She felt Willow climb behind her and put a hand on either of her buttocks, massaging them.  
  
  
She felt a shiver go through her spine and spread her legs as much as she could accommodatingly, gasping sharply when two fingers began to probe her entrance.  
  
  
“You’re such a tease,” she breathed, only to hear another frustrated sound.  
  
  
She looked over her shoulder and saw Willow struggling to lean forward to and turn in different directions to let her fingers slide in some more, which only resulted in her accidentally thrusting forward, her belly hitting into Tara and making her fall forwards, flat on her stomach, knocking her head against the headboard.   
  
  
“Tara!” Willow gasped in alarm, crawling back down beside her and checking her head.  
  
  
“That’s not why they call it a headboard,” Tara tried to joke, only for Willow to look away, ashamed, “Darling, it’s okay.”  
  
  
“It’s not okay,” Willow replied, swallowing repeatedly, “I’m so embarrassed.”  
  
  
Tara curled into Willow’s side and began to kiss her cheek over and over again.  
  
  
“Come here. It is, it’s okay. I love you.”  
  
  
Willow sniffled but didn’t rebuff Tara’s comfort.  
  
  
“I mean it’s one thing when I need you to help me tie my shoes but I can’t even…” she trailed off before throwing her arms in the air, “And I’m only going to get bigger! All I wanna do is show my wife that I love her!”  
  
  
Tara stroked her cheek, thinking that a verbal reassurance that she knew wasn’t what Willow needed right now.  
  
  
“Willow, maybe I could, um…” she looked around, trying to think, “Stand while you sit on the bed or something?”  
  
  
Willow eyes lit up at that.  
  
  
“Sit!”  
  
  
“Yeah? Does that sound like it would work?” Tara asked, delighted Willow was smiling again and started to stand off the bed, looking around herself, “Maybe we should put some pillows around in case I lose my balance, I don’t want to fall on you.”  
  
  
“No Tara,” Willow replied, tugging on Tara’s hand and waggling her eyebrows, “ _Sit_.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes widened as she realised what her wife meant and tried to ignore the hot pool of desire she felt form between her legs.  
  
  
“I don’t know…”  
  
  
“Why not?” Willow asked, eagerly bouncing, “We do it all the time.”  
  
  
“Not since Sunnydale, not since you’ve been so big,” Tara replied offhandedly before wincing when she saw Willow’s face fall, “I’m sorry that came out wrong.”  
  
  
Willow swallowed for a moment and gestured dismissively.  
  
  
“It’s okay, I know what you meant,” she replied as she grabbed Tara’s hand and squeezed tightly, “Please? I mean, nice headboard and we have lots of pillows. Please? _Please?_ Don’t make me beg to make love to my wife.”  
  
  
Tara climbed back in beside Willow and let out a shaky breath.  
  
  
“You know that makes me out of control.”  
  
  
Willow stuck her tongue out between her teeth.  
  
  
“Exactly,” she replied, then lowered her voice and tapped her fingertips along Tara’s jaw, “You want to. I’m making you wet, I can tell.”  
  
  
Tara squeezed her legs together and closed her eyes, reopening them a moment later considerably darkened.  
  
  
“That’s what I like to see,” Willow whispered, taking Tara’s bottom lip between her teeth and dragging her tongue along it, “Want some more of that?”  
  
  
Tara could only nod and Willow pulled her down for a brief but steamy kiss before settling her head back against the pillows in wait. Tara exhaled slowly as she moved to kneel at the head of the bed, then threw her leg over Willow’s chest and shuffled up a little.   
  
  
She took a loose hold of the headboard and waited for Willow to position another pillow behind herself before gently lowering herself onto her wife’s mouth. Her grip instantly tightened and a trembling moan left her lips as she felt Willow’s soft lips tenderly caress her.  
  
  
It had been a few weeks since Willow had touched her in such an intimate manner and she was struggling to resist the deeps urges her hips were sending her to buck, but she held strong, wanting the soft acquaintance for them both.  
  
  
Willow rested her hands on Tara’s buttocks as her lips explored the area she’d been absent from for a while until the taste and sensation of her wife became too much and she needed more. She clutched Tara’s cheeks more firmly and extended her tongue, circling the sensitive area around her wife’s clit.  
  
  
A long moan fell to her ears and she felt Tara start to gently push against her. She flicked her tongue over the throbbing nub and delighted in the feel of Tara rubbing on her.  
  
  
Tara lost herself in everything Willow, keeping a steady grip on the headboard but not worrying about anything but the intense pleasure coursing through her. She let every rush flow through her, feeling everything deeply and intensely until her whole body was tingling in anticipation.  
  
  
Willow could feel how close Tara was and was working diligently to help her over, pulling her in in time with how her wife’s hips were moving. The moans floating down to her were getting louder and louder and she too was getting lost in everything Tara until she both heard and felt her tumble over with a strangled groan muffled from the blonde biting down on her lip.  
  
  
Tara let her hands fall from the headboard but stayed in place, letting Willow hold her for a few minutes as she was gently eased down from the haze of ecstasy. She could have happily stayed there for hours just letting Willow sooth her sated flesh but when a second chill ran up her spine in a matter of seconds, she lifted herself off of her wife and slid down to curl into her side.  
  
  
“Mmmhhh,” she murmured in content, her eyes closing sleepily as she threw her arm over Willow’s stomach and nuzzled into her shoulder.  
  
  
Willow reached over to stroke her hair and dropped her lips to kiss the top of her head.  
  
  
“Sorry I’ve been neglecting you.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head into Willow’s shoulder.  
  
  
“You haven’t. I promise,” she replied, opening her eyes and looking up to Willow with a soft smile, “You know I don’t make promises I don’t mean.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and held her pinky finger up. Tara took it and let herself be pulled into a warm kiss.  
  
  
“I love you.”  
  
  
“I love you too,” she replied tenderly, pecking her lips again as she brushed the back of her fingertips against Willow’s cheek and gave a crooked grin, “You don’t look completely…worn out.”  
  
  
Willow flashed her teeth, then bit her lip giddily before turning around so her back was to Tara. Tara pressed her breasts into Willow’s back and started to kiss along her shoulder blade as her hand caressed its way down the redhead’s side to her hip.  
  
  
Willow bent her top knee forward a little and felt her mouth go dry as Tara’s hand continued to move down and teased her entrance from behind.   
  
  
“Tara…” she moaned quietly as her wife sucked on the piece of skin where her neck met her shoulders, “Baby…”  
  
  
Tara’s head shot up, concerned.  
  
  
“Is the baby okay?”  
  
  
Willow looked over her shoulder and gave a soft smile.  
  
  
“You-baby.”  
  
  
Tara blushed.  
  
  
“Sorry,” she whispered, moving her mouth behind Willow’s ear, licking around the curve.  
  
  
Willow let out a soft gasp as Tara nipped at her lobe while fingers started to dip into her wetness again, gathering moisture before gently slipping inside. She moaned at the satisfying fullness and pushed her hips down as Tara thrust up, giving her just the right amount of friction.  
  
  
She writhed around as Tara tongued her ear and moved inside her, the combination causing deep, throbbing heat to pulse through her body. She grabbed Tara’s wrist as she felt a pressure building and pushed her deeper and faster inside her, not able to form the words to request it.  
  
  
Tara matched the rhythm Willow was setting and pushed her own hips behind to give her more power, feeling her wife begin to come undone almost immediately.  
  
  
“Tara…Tara…Oh Tara…”  
  
  
Willow clawed at the sheet as her eyes glazed over and turned her head into the pillow to silence the cries rising from her throat as her body shook through her release. She continued to softly moan as Tara gently moved inside her before finally stilling and cupping her mound.  
  
  
“I am now,” Willow murmured with a dreamy smile on her face, “Worn out I mean.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and gathered the blanket around them, cradling Willow close.   
  
  
“Sounds like you need someone to cuddle you into a proper sleep.”  
  
  
Willow nodded with a sleepy grin.  
  
  
“Know where I might find such a person?”  
  
  
Tara smiled again and pecked Willow’s lips.  
  
  
“Right here.”  
  
  
Willow let out some happy sounds of contentment and closed her eyes, ready to let sleep take her.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara felt herself pulled from slumber for what had to be at least the 10th time in the few hours since they’d gone to sleep from feeling Willow toss and turn. She shuffled over and curled into her wife’s back, throwing her arm around her stomach and giving it a calming rub.  
  
  
“Honey, what’s wrong?” she murmured sleepily.  
  
  
“Nothing,” Willow replied, her tone indicating anything but, “I’m Finey McFine.”  
  
  
Tara inhaled deeply from the back of Willow’s hair, trying to wake herself up a little.  
  
  
“No, you’re Tossy McTurn.”  
  
  
Willow turned onto her back with a groan of effort and looked at Tara with a small pout.  
  
  
“You’re going to think I’m a horrible cliché and roll your eyes.”  
  
  
Tara’s vision was clouded from her half-closed eyes but she gently shook her head.  
  
  
“I won’t.”  
  
  
Willow looked conflicted as to whether to reveal the cause of her insomniac turmoil but finally broke down with a sigh.  
  
  
“I want a pickle.”  
  
  
Tara pursed her lips to stop the smile from showing and sluggishly sat up, rubbing her eyes.  
  
  
“Okay.”  
  
  
Willow enjoyed watching Tara’s naked back muscles rippling as she stretched for a moment until she saw her slipping from the bed.  
  
  
“We don’t have any.”  
  
  
Tara went to the dresser and started pulling on a pair of sweats and an old sweatshirt.  
  
  
“I’ll get you some.”  
  
  
Willow frowned and glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand.  
  
  
“It’s 2am.”  
  
  
“That convenience store on the corner is still there, I saw it walking to the T,” Tara replied, gathering her hair from inside the hood of the sweatshirt, “It’s probably still 24 hours.”  
  
  
Willow’s frown deepened.  
  
  
“Is that safe?”  
  
  
Tara gave a wry grin.  
  
  
“It was safe when we needed a middle-of-the-night ice cream run after a marathon session.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and cracked a smile, her eyes softening.  
  
  
“You’re gonna go wandering the streets of Boston at 2am because I want a pickle?”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Tara replied, slipping into a pair of flats, “Do you want something disgusting to dip it in?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head, a little embarrassed.  
  
  
“Just the pickle.”  
  
  
Tara covered her mouth to stifle a yawn and walked over to leave a sleepy kiss on Willow’s forehead before leaving the bedroom, grabbing her wallet and the apartment key and leaving the building.  
  
  
She stuck her hands into the front pocket of her sweatshirt as the cold night air hit her and stuck her chin down into her chest as another yawn escaped from her mouth. She quickly skirted around the few corners and smiled when she saw the flicking neon sign above the convenience store she was looking for, a regular stop for them when they had lived in Boston, for early-morning coffee and milk runs as well as for the late-night ice-cream.   
  
  
It had been run by a cherry Indian man who seemed to always be behind the cash desk regardless of what time of the day or night it was, claiming a special blend of tea from his home town was his secret to keep him going.  
  
  
Tara opened and stepped through the door, shivering a little as she did so and kept her head down as she wandered the aisles looking for pickles, the bright lights of the store harsh against her still sleepy eyes.  
  
  
She eventually and gratefully located a jar in the middle aisle surrounded by pasta sauces and grabbed a second one just in case, then brought them up to the check-out, leaving them on the counter and fumbling in her pockets for her wallet, not looking up until a familiar cheery voice piped up in heavy accented clipped English.  
  
  
“I know you! Coffee and ice-cream!”  
  
  
Tara peered up, suddenly conscious of the fact that she hadn’t even bothered to brush her hair but smiled softly when she recognised the short, dark-skinned man scanning the jars.  
  
  
“Mr Chatterjee?”  
  
  
“Is you!” Mr Chatterjee said chirpily, “I have not seen you in…many years!”  
  
  
Tara’s smile widened, almost coyly; the man’s cheerfulness was comforting and charismatic.   
  
  
“We moved. New York, upstate. I can’t believe you remember me,” she said, then gestured at him, “And that you’re still here.”  
  
  
“The tea. Will make you live forever,” Mr Chatterjee replied, pointing at a cup with a clear brownish liquid beside him, before looking at Tara inquisitively, “Your friend! The pretty girl!”  
  
  
“Very pretty,” Tara agreed, then tapped the top of one of the jars, “For her. She’s having a baby.”  
  
  
Mr. Chatterjee nodded understandingly.  
  
  
“My wife enjoy the pickles with baby too. With the peanut butter.”  
  
  
Tara looked around and grabbed a couple of packs of peanut butter cups, leaving them down on the counter.  
  
  
“Better be on the safe side.”  
  
  
Mr. Chatterjee smiled and rang the items through as well. Tara handed him the cash and took her change, pocketing it and gathering everything, offering the man a small wave as she started towards the door.  
  
  
“Nice to see you, Mr. Chatterjee. Keep drinking that tea!”  
  
  
Mr. Chatterjee laughed and waved.  
  
  
“I will! Bye! Come again!”  
  
  
Tara left the store and rearranged the jars in her hands, stuffing the peanut butter cups into her front pocket and quickly made her way back to the apartment. She carefully closed the door so JJ wouldn’t wake up and left one of the jars in the refrigerator, then grabbed a paper towel and went back into the bedroom.  
  
  
Willow sat up straight as she entered and Tara walked over, handing her the jar with the paper towel wrapped around it and left the peanut butter cups on the nightstand.  
  
  
“In case you wanted something sweet,” she said softly, kissing her forehead before moving back around to her side of the bed, stripping off as she did so.  
  
  
“Tara, thank you,” Willow replied, her voice full of emotion.  
  
  
Tara left her clothes pooled on the floor to worry about in the morning and gratefully sank back under the covers, cuddling up to Willow’s side again, closing her eyes with a soft sigh of contentment to be back in bed.  
  
  
“Remember this when you knock me up,” she replied, then paused for a moment but was smiling, “I meant if.”  
  
  
Willow saw the smile and grinned from ear to ear.  
  
  
“I will,” she replied as she tried and failed to open the jar.  
  
  
Tara felt Willow’s arms straining above her and cracked an eye open, reaching for the jar when she saw her struggling. She popped the lid and handed it back.  
  
  
“You’re like my superhero,” Willow giggled giddily, then saw Tara settle back down against her, “I can go eat this in the kitchen.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“Crunch away, my love.”  
  
  
Willow took a pickle from the jar and wrapped the paper towel around it to stop soak up the juice around it and happily bit into it, the satisfying flavour and saltiness instantly filling the craving that had kept her up half the night.  
  
  
“Feel better?” Tara asked, feeling Willow’s body relaxing beside her.  
  
  
“Much,” Willow replied through a mouthful, finishing the pickle and reaching for another one. The peanut butter cup caught her eye and a fresh craving stirred inside her so tore the pack open and took a bite of each at the same time, “Oh my god this is amazing.”  
  
  
Tara peered up and saw what her wife was eating, grinning a little in response.  
  
  
“Thank Mr. Chatterjee.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyebrow rose in surprise as she continued to stuff her mouth with the delicious new combination of flavours.  
  
  
“The Indian guy? He was still there?”  
  
  
Tara gave a small chuckle.  
  
  
“It’s the tea, Willow. It’s always the tea.”


	61. Chapter 61

  
Willow awkwardly shifted as she tried to extract herself from the car, groaning as her bump wedged her in.   
  
  
She eventually managed to wriggle herself free and slammed the door shut in annoyance.  
  
  
 _Eurgh. Tara can take JJ to his damn playdates next time._  
  
  
She clicked the button to alarm the car and stretched her back out a little to get rid of dull ache that seemed to be constantly bothering her these days, when she noticed a black SVU with a trailer attached, blocking the license plates, parked on the curb between their house and the house next door.  
  
  
 _Huh. Are the neighbours moving? Wonder if we’re getting new ones. They better not be homophobes, that's the last thing we need with the new baby._  
  
  
She continued to stretch and silently muse for another moment before straightening up again. She walked, though it was more like a waddle with only two weeks to go until baby-day loomed, towards the front door.   
  
  
She went in and quietly closed the door, not wanting her annoyance from the car to extend to the house and moved straight through the kitchen to the backyard, figuring that’s where Tara would be - gardening as she did most weekend morning - even if she wasn’t expecting her home for a couple of hours.  
  
  
She frowned when she saw it completely empty and started her search for her wife, a pang of annoyance coming back when she realised she’d have to climb the stairs; there was no Tara in sight anywhere downstairs.  
  
  
She crawled them slowly and was about to call Tara’s name when she heard voices coming from their guest bedroom. Her brow creased in confusion, wondering why Tara would take a phone call in that room. She approached and had her hand on the knob, ready to turn, when she recognised the sound of two voices, Xander and Tara.  
  
  
“Are you sure Willow won’t come home?”  
  
  
“No, I sent her to get her hair done after dropping JJ off. She’ll be a few hours.”  
  
  
Willow frowned, even more confused, and put her ear against the door.  
  
  
“We’re almost finished anyway. Just a bit of readjusting should do it.”  
  
  
“Thanks so much for this, Xander, Willow isn’t up for this kind of thing since the baby’s been getting so big.”  
  
  
Willow felt hurt that she was being kept from something, then heard Xander speak again.  
  
  
“No problem, I love to do it! Is right here good?”  
  
  
“Right here is great.”   
  
  
Willow heard a groaning sound from her wife before her voice floated out again.  
  
  
“Willow _definitely_ couldn’t do this.”  
  
  
Willow’s hand clutched at her heart, not believing what she was hearing, then her eyes went wide as she heard Xander reply, his voice gruff from exertion.  
  
  
“Do you want me to just put it in?”  
  
  
Willow saw red at that and burst into the room, furious.  
  
  
“Get your hands off of my wife!”  
  
  
Tara and Xander jumped back in surprise as she ploughed into the room, but Willow was the one most in shock as she took in the completely transformed room.   
  
  
A pink border ran around the room in the middle of the white walls with dancing bears illustrated inside it and on the wall opposite her were plush letter cushions, spelling out ‘Robyn’ in alternating pink and white.   
  
  
The dresser in the room had been pushed to the opposite side and a couple of the top drawers were opened with some of the dresses they’d bought for the baby on display, with a set of monitors sitting nearly on top next to a lamp.  
  
  
Facing the dresser in the other corner was a brand-new changing table, wipes and talcum powder all ready to go on the side and the diaper compartment hanging from it, filled. There was a chocolate brown-coloured loveseat sitting right in front of Willow, with just enough room to open the door before hitting it - it was small, but was wide enough that two people could still snuggle in comfortably.   
  
  
There was a tall and wide bookcase in the last corner, the walnut wood matching the colour of the loveseat. It was separated into square segments, with some small colourful toys on display and the square in the centre had a few books slanted inside it; the most prominent one on display, Willow recognised as the gift they'd been given from Mrs Michelson in Sunnydale.  
  
  
Right in the middle of the room, standing neatly on top of a circular, soft pink rug was a wooden crib, an arched piece of wood either end that when Willow peered closely saw ‘Robyn’ engraved on each. Inside was dressed with soft, white linens and a cheery pink teddy bear was sitting proudly in the middle, keeping guard.  
  
  
And right behind the crib, both Xander and Tara stood in old sweats and tees, with a tool belt wrapped around Xander's waist for good measure. They both remained stilled in shock at Willow's abrupt and startling entrance until Xander suddenly squealed, in a way that very much contrasted the quite masculine appearance he was sporting.  
  
  
“Hands? My hands are nowhere,” he exclaimed loudly, not wanting to be on the receiving end of any anger from a very-pregnant woman, “I don’t even own hands!”  
  
  
When Willow didn’t react, he took it as a bad sign and not as her being in awe of the room, so he started to skid towards the door, figuring if an angry hormonal outburst was about to occur, him being there would only make things worse.  
  
  
“I should go!”  
  
  
Tara snapped to attention as she saw his scurry off and called after him.  
  
  
“Xander, thank you so much!”  
  
  
“Not for my hands!” Xander called back, shaking his head wildly at Willow before making a beeline for the stairs, the door banging and a car screeching away a moment later, the sound of the trailer bouncing behind it.  
  
  
Willow finally seemed to be regaining some kind of awareness and approached the crib, running her hand along the top, caressing it like it was fine china.  
  
  
“Tara…you did this?”  
  
  
“I organised it. Xander helped me set it all up,” Tara replied pointedly, “ _And_ built us this crib. You owe him an apology and we owe him a six-pack at the very least. I already gave him and Anya a hotel voucher and we’re taking care of Alex next weekend.”  
  
  
Willow nodded absently as she moved over to the bookcase and felt around it with the same awe. Tara crossed her arms over her chest, still caught up in how Willow had entered the room to register her appreciation of it.  
  
  
“What the hell did you mean ‘get your hands off my wife’?”  
  
  
Willow finally looked up and met Tara's gaze, then swallowed, embarrassed at how she'd completely misread the situation.  
  
  
“F-from outside…it sounded like you were…” she trailed off and started waving her hands as she mimicked what she'd heard, “‘Willow definitely can’t do this!’ ‘Should I just put it in?’”  
  
  
Tara shot an ‘are you serious?’ look at Willow.  
  
  
“Lifting things,” she replied with heavy emphasis, then picked up the small teddy in the crib, “And the teddy bear.”  
  
  
Willow looked down sheepishly.  
  
  
“I know, it’s ridiculous, okay? You wouldn’t cheat on me, especially not with a guy and double especially not with Xander,” she said, some puppy dog eyes coming into effect, “But the first thing I heard was you saying that I wouldn’t be home for a while…and my mind jumped. You know me, my brain doesn’t take a nice little stroll from A to B to C, it flips them off along the way and jumps straight to D.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head a little.  
  
  
“Cheating on you with Xander doesn’t even register on the alphabet. Any of them. And I’m sure there’s a lot.”  
  
  
“Around 30 if you include ones just used for religious purposes,” Willow answered, trying to cover how foolish she felt with real knowledge, “But that doesn’t include syllabaries or ideograms. Or, you know, Klingon…Elvish…”  
  
  
Tara felt her heart melt a little as she watched Willow idly toy with her fingers and couldn’t resist walking over to wrap her arms around her. She gave a soft sigh combined with a squeeze to show Willow they could forget about what happened.  
  
  
“Did they double book the hair appointment I made you?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head into Tara’s shoulder, relieved her wife wasn't too mad at her   
  
  
“The fumes from the hair dye were making me nauseated.”  
  
  
Tara pulled away from the embrace but kept her arm around Willow’s waist while the other hand gestured around them and she gave a small laugh.  
  
  
“Well, do you like the room?”  
  
  
Willow nodded in delight.  
  
  
“I love it. It’s magical. It’s perfect,” she said happily as her hand coasted along the side of the crib again, “I should have recognised this as a Xander Harris original. He even engraved it like he did with JJ’s.”  
  
  
“A lot of it’s the same wood as from JJ’s,” Tara explained, “He came and got it from the attic while we were in Boston and re-made it for us. And he let me store the bookcase and chair in his shed and brought them over here today in his trailer. He’s really gone over and beyond helping me do all this.”  
  
  
Willow nodded again, understanding how out of order she'd been.  
  
  
“I’ll call him right now and say sorry. And thank you. And I’ll bring him in that 6-pack to work on Monday,” she said before frowning, “Actually that’s probably not a good idea, I’ll catch him another time.”  
  
  
Tara gave a soft smile.  
  
  
“You’re not going into work on Monday, anyway.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes a moment, having forgotten.  
  
  
“Right. Maternity leave. Keep forgetting. First weekend and all,” she said, then smiled a little, “But at least I’ll have JJ for company! Timing worked out with him being on vacation and everything. Although I don’t think I can drive much anymore. I just don’t fit.”  
  
  
Tara nodded in agreement and was about to voice it but Willow piped up again first, having reached down to pat the mattress inside the crib.  
  
  
“I can’t believe our little girl will be sleeping in here soon.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and walked over to the door, closing it over so she could pull out a huge teddy bear, as tall as she was.  
  
  
“I was going to put a ribbon on it but you weren’t supposed to be home for a while. I wasn’t sure about the layout of the furniture either, we were going to experiment a bit.”  
  
  
Willow did a slow turn around the room and shook her head.  
  
  
“I love it just how it is. Warm and comforting and perfect for our little girl.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“She’s getting so big.”  
  
  
Willow peered under her arm that was holding the bowl of ice-cream and chopped up pickles – which Tara had so kindly and wordlessly prepared for her when she asked – up to her mouth to watch her wife nuzzling against her belly; both of them cuddled up on the sofa.  
  
  
“And with a growing penchant for soccer apparently,” she answered, licking her spoon clean before throwing it into the bowl and leaving it on the nearby table, “Kicky kick kick; morning, noon and night.”  
  
  
Tara kissed over the spot on the side of Willow’s belly that she often felt said kicks from.  
  
  
“Well she’s just preparing those tiny tootsies to come out and see us,” she replied as she moved back up to rest her head against Willow’s shoulder, “I can't wait to hold her. Cuddle her. Play ‘This Little Piggy’ on those tiny tootsies.”  
  
  
“Remember how much JJ loved that? He laughed and laughed,” Willow responded, smiling fondly, “And trying to throw together his nursery? I’m glad we got hers organised _before_ dealing with a screaming newborn.”  
  
  
Tara quirked an eyebrow in Willow’s direction, making the redhead stick out her tongue.  
  
  
“Okay, _you_ got hers organised. And it’s perfect. I love those letter cushions you got to spell out her name.”  
  
  
“Aren’t they cute?” Tara smiled, “You haven’t even seen the best part, they act as night lights too.”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes went wide and shined with excitement.  
  
  
“No way.”  
  
  
“Uh huh,” Tara nodded, “They project alternating colours all around the room, following some kind of baby psychology pattern for good sleep.”  
  
  
Willow looked impressed.  
  
  
“Where did you even find those?”  
  
  
Tara grinned.  
  
  
“You’re not the only one who knows how to use the internet.”  
  
  
“Hey, back off my turf,” Willow replied in mock-annoyance, “How would you like it if I showed up in the yard early one Saturday morning with a hand shovel and pack of seeds?”  
  
  
“I’d love it,” Tara responded, her face lighting up, “I was thinking of planting some radishes next weekend for our salads, I could really use some help with the digging.”  
  
  
Willow paled and opened and closed her mouth a few times, resulting in her stumbling over her words.  
  
  
“I…I d-don’t know if I could, um, bend the way you need and being that close to dirt probably isn’t good for the baby, who knows what I could accidentally inhale, I mean those spores can really get in there and did I mention the bending? And–”  
  
  
She paused a moment to take a breath, for the first time noticing the mischievous glint in her wife’s eyes.  
  
  
“Got ya,” Tara winked with a crooked smirk.  
  
  
Willow visibly breathed a sigh of relief, then gave Tara’s shoulder a playful slap.  
  
  
“One of these days I’m going to stop falling for your charm and innocence act, you know. What are you going to do then?”  
  
  
Tara wiggled a little beside Willow.  
  
  
“Rely on my rocking booty.”  
  
  
Willow giggled and took a generous squeeze of her wife’s ‘rocking booty’.  
  
  
“You’re perfect.”  
  
  
“And you’re beautiful,” Tara replied softly, curling into Willow’s side and leaning up to kiss her.  
  
  
Willow sighed contentedly as she felt her bottom lip rest comfortably between Tara’s two and dropped her hand to just under her wife’s shoulder, dancing her fingertips over the bones jutting out from her collarbone.  
  
  
She opened her mouth willingly when she felt Tara push her tongue forwards and her hand seemed to take on a life of its own as it dropped lower and cupped a firm breast. She felt her wife’s tongue respond eagerly to the touch and shifted a little to aid where Tara was pulling at her shirt to touch her stomach.  
  
  
She moaned softy against Tara’s lips as their caresses and kissing got more heated until the unexpected sound of pounding little footsteps were heard running down the stairs.   
  
  
Tara quickly jumped back to the other side of the sofa and redid her shirt buttons while Willow smoothed down her hair.  
  
  
“Always with the snuglus interruptus on the sofa,” she huffed, tucking the end of her t-shirt back into her pants just as JJ bounded into the room excitedly, “Hey, little man, what are you doing up? It’s way past sleepy times.”  
  
  
JJ jumped onto the couch between them and grinned from ear to ear, revealing a distinct gap where one of his front teeth used to be.  
  
  
“Where’s your tooth?!” Willow asked in alarm, peering into his mouth to account for any injury.  
  
  
JJ proudly held out and opened his fist, a perfectly formed tooth lying right in the middle of his palm. He started to ramble, now with an obvious lisp.  
  
  
“I woke up and I had to pee, so I went and then I felt something funny in my mouth and I spit it out and it was my tooth!”  
  
  
Willow breathed a sigh of relief that there wasn’t any real damage before she suddenly jumped in place and clapped her hands together.  
  
  
“You lost a tooth!” she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug, “You lost your first tooth!”  
  
  
“You know this means the tooth fairy is coming tonight, right?” Tara asked him, her smile conveying the appropriate enthusiasm.  
  
  
JJ looked as if we was about to leap from his skin in excitement, and his words started to tumble out, changing in sound as they rushed past the gap that was now in his mouth  
  
  
“She, she’s, she’s gonna come in my woom and leave money under my pillow!”  
  
  
“That’s right,” Tara replied, holding out her hand for him to take, “We better get back up there so she knows to come.”  
  
  
JJ nodded, eyes wide and went to leap from the sofa, but not before Willow caught him in a quick hug first.  
  
  
“‘Night, honey.”  
  
  
JJ mumbled out a response as he pulled Tara with him out the door and straight up the stairs to his bedroom.   
  
  
“Where do I put it? Will she be able to find it under my pillow?”  
  
  
“Oh yes,” Tara nodded seriously, lifting JJ into his bed and lifting his pillow.  
  
  
JJ very carefully, like it was a precious stone, placed his tooth right in the centre. Tara moved the pillow back on top, discreetly slipping her hand on top of it first, then tried to settle JJ under the covers.  
  
  
“You have to go asleep or the tooth fairy won’t come. She and Santa had a big meeting about it, it’s their number one rule.”  
  
  
JJ closed his eyes but they sprung open again straight away, his hands fidgeting about the blanket.  
  
  
“I’m too ‘cited!”  
  
  
“Well how about I tell you a story?” Tara suggested, “Any story you want.”  
  
  
JJ nodded keenly.  
  
  
“Tell me about the tooth fairy!”  
  
  
Tara faked surprise.  
  
  
“Oh, you mean you don’t know the legend of the tooth fairy?”  
  
  
JJ shook his head and Tara cuddled into his side, remembering the story her mother had told her when she’d lost her first tooth.  
  
  
“Once upon a time,” she began, as all good fairy tales did, “In a land high above the clouds, the youngest fairy child lived with her two fairy sisters and her fairy queen mother. Her fairy sisters were older than the youngest fairy and acted 'very grown up'. The youngest fairy was not mature at all. While her sisters listened and learned fairy lessons from their fairy queen mother, she giggled and played games and thought up stories and used her fairy imagination to think about little boys and little girls in other lands.”  
  
  
JJ was instantly captivated by the story, hugging his stuffed lion Rawry to his chest as he looked up at Tara, wide-eyed. Tara kept her voice low and regaling as she continued with her story.  
  
  
“Her mother, the fairy queen came to see her one night as she gazed from Fairyland out onto the stars.  
  
  
 _You are not practicing your fairy magic, my youngest one. Your sisters are making great progress in their fairy skills. So far, you fly very well and are invisible at night but that is about all.  
  
  
I know fairy queen mother,_ she said, _I don’t want to disappoint you but my most favourite thing is to fly and fly. I’m not good at my other powers except my invisible power. I use it when I fly among the children from other lands. I watch them having fun. They play and laugh all the time. They sing songs and listen to stories._  
  
  
She looked at her fairy mother and said,   
  
  
_I wish I was a regular child like that._  
  
  
She thought her fairy queen mother would be upset when she said this. But her mother held her youngest fairy in her arms and said,   
  
  
_My sweet young fairy, you are very special. You have many skills that boys and girls in other lands don’t.  
  
  
I know,_ the youngest fairy said, _But they have friends. And they play. Fairy mother, I LOVE children. Every time they laugh, my wings just flutter and wave. Every time they sing a song, my feet dance. Every time they cry, I want to kiss them and tell them everything will be all right. Fairy mother, last night I was visiting a far off land with children and a little girl was laying down to sleep when her tooth fell out. She was so surprised. It frightened her - I could tell. But I flew beside her and gave her a fairy kiss even though she couldn’t see me and right away, she felt better.  
  
  
So instead of practicing your fairy skills, you have been visiting little boys and little girls in far off lands?_ Her fairy mother asked.”  
  
  
JJ held his breath, thinking his fairy friend was about to be chastised.  
  
  
“ _Yes,_ the youngest fairy said, hanging her head, _I’m sorry if I have disappointed you._  
  
  
Her fairy mother kissed the youngest fairy and said, _You can never disappoint me, youngest fairy. I am going to think about how your fairy skills can be put to the best use. Now get to bed and we will talk about this again soon._  
  
  
The youngest fairy went to bed and rested well with visions of young children dancing through her dreams.”  
  
  
Tara dropped her voice an octave lower as she saw JJ nearing hopefully the same kind of dreams and began to stroke his hair in comfort.  
  
  
“The next day during fairy lessons; the fairy queen mother said,   
  
  
_You have learned your fairy skills well. It’s time we began thinking about what each of you will do next._  
  
  
The youngest fairy was very nervous as she heard this since she knew her sisters had practiced much more than she had.  
  
  
 _How will you use your fairy skills?_  
  
  
 _Importantly,_ the oldest fairy sister said, _I am the most skilled fairy of us all. I will rearrange the stars and keep the planets moving in the solar system. That will be my job._  
  
  
 _That’s a very important job,_ the fairy queen mother said, _What about you, middle fairy sister. How will you use your fairy skills?_  
  
  
The middle fairy sister looked very pleased with herself as she said,   
  
  
_I have practiced very hard on a special skill - I will fly around the world. When two people who are alone in the world meet together, I will make invisible sparks fly and create what I call love._  
  
  
She looked at her fairy queen mother for approval.  
  
  
The fairy queen mother said,   
  
  
_That’s a very important job. And what about you, my youngest fairy, what will be your job?_ she asked.  
  
  
The youngest fairy thought and thought but she couldn’t think of anything as wonderful as her sister’s jobs that she had the special fairy skills for. Her face began to flush. Her sisters looked at her while thinking, what could she do, what would she do?   
  
  
The fairy queen mother said,   
  
  
_I think the Youngest Fairy has already found her special job. She told me all about it last night._  
  
  
The youngest fairy looked at the fairy queen mother.  
  
  
The fairy queen mother said,   
  
  
_Oldest fairy sister will arrange the moon and stars. Middle fairy sister will generate love. But the youngest fairy will have the most important job of all. The youngest fairy will fly among the little boys and girls. When they begin to grow up and lose their baby teeth, the youngest fairy will make it a magical experience. The youngest fairy will become the Tooth Fairy forever capturing the treasure of childhood and bringing laughter and gifts to little children. She will bring their lost teeth to Fairyland where they will become stars for the oldest fairy sister to arrange. That means a little part of all the children born from all the love created by the middle fairy sister will always be present in Fairyland. That’s why she has most important job of all._  
  
  
The youngest fairy could barely believe her ears. It was perfect. Her destiny was to be the Tooth Fairy.”  
  
  
Tara smiled down at her son’s now peacefully sleeping features and carefully extracted herself, tucking him in extra tight as she whispered the last line.  
  
  
“And that’s how the Tooth Fairy was born.”  
  
  
She pocketed the tooth she’d managed to keep in her hand throughout the story and dropped a kiss on JJ’s forehead.  
  
  
“Sweet dreams, precious boy.”  
  
  
She tiptoed from the room and closed his door until it was just ajar, then made her way back downstairs and into the living room. She held the tooth up with a grin as she sat back down beside Willow, who took it and began to examine it close-up.  
  
  
“Look at that. Wow.”  
  
  
“I have a little pouch in my jewellery box we can keep it in,” Tara said, somewhat giddily.  
  
  
“Great,” Willow beamed, “I got out the money to put under his pillow.”  
  
  
Tara glanced at the coffee table and quirked an eyebrow when she saw the bill sitting there.  
  
  
“10 bucks? My mom put a quarter under my pillow.”  
  
  
Willow continued to stare at the tooth, but she appeared to be staring right through it as her tone became sad.  
  
  
“Mine gave a tissue to stop the bleeding and a lecture about using my common sense and not to bother them with delusions and fabrications. My dad gave me a dollar anyway. I think that might have been the first guilt pay-off I ever got.”  
  
  
Tara moved her hand to rub Willow’s shoulder comfortingly. Willow gave her a grateful smile before sighing.  
  
  
“Our little boy lost his first tooth.”  
  
  
Her tone was sad again, but it was a different sadness from before.  
  
  
“You okay?” Tara asked, giving her shoulder a squeeze.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes filled with tears.  
  
  
“He’s going to grow up and leave for college and he won’t need me anymore!”  
  
  
Tara stroked Willow’s cheek tenderly and left a warm kiss on the side of her head.  
  
  
“I promise no matter how big he gets, he’s always going to need his Momma.”  
  
  
Willow accepted the comfort but still looked forlorn, so Tara wrapped her arm more securely around her shoulder and brought her wife’s head down to rest on her chest.  
  
  
“He will. He’ll need you to help him with his math homework and to fill out his college applications. He’ll need you to give him a pep talk when he goes for his first interview and hug him when he doesn’t get it. He’ll need your help to tie his bow-tie on his wedding day and he’ll need you when his first child is born and is so scared he won’t know what to do with himself. He’ll grow and change and he’ll even leave our house to go and make his own life, but he will always be our boy and he will always need you.”  
  
  
There was a silence for a few moments before Willow brought the tooth up for inspection and spoke, her tone relieved and cheerier.  
  
  
“This is a very white tooth. He’s a good brusher.”  
  
  
“You taught him that,” Tara replied, leaving a kiss on her wife’s hair, “Remember, you guys had matching toothbrushes and he was so proud when he showed me how his Momma taught him how to do the circles up and down.”  
  
  
Willow cuddled her head comfortably against Tara’s breasts.  
  
  
“Yeah, I did that.”  
  
  
“You can teach Robyn that too,” Tara responded encouragingly, “And the alphabet and numbers, how to read, to tell time. There’s so much we still have to teach both of them.”  
  
  
Willow turned her head to shoot her wife a winning smile.  
  
  
“You’re right. I guess that no matter what, they’ll always be our babies.”


	62. Chapter 62

“Jacob James Rosenberg-Maclay, do not run away from me!”  
  
  
Tara winced as those were the first words she heard whilst coming through the door from work and scooped JJ up as he rushed past the last step of the stairs, completely nude.  
  
  
“Why are you running around naked?”  
  
  
Willow was following close behind him, looking less than amused.  
  
  
“Because he knows I can’t catch him.”  
  
  
Tara looked down at JJ sternly.  
  
  
“That’s not very nice.”  
  
  
“It’s hot!” JJ replied in a whine, trying to squirm free.  
  
  
“I know, honey,” Tara said to him, trying to be understanding, knowing the summer heat was rough to take, “But I got you some new shorts to wear, they won’t make you hot. That doesn't mean you can run away from Momma with no clothes on.”  
  
  
JJ frowned, then perked up hopefully.  
  
  
“Can I sleep naked?”  
  
  
“What if you get cold during the night?” Tara asked, hoping to appeal to some kind of reason, which she soon realised was fruitless with a six year old.  
  
  
“You and Momma sleep naked!” JJ argued, making both women's eyes go wide.  
  
  
“That’s different,” Tara replied, not able to come up with a better argument in that moment.  
  
  
JJ frowned again.  
  
  
“Why?”  
  
  
“Because we keep each other warm,” Tara said, the first thing coming to her mind and wincing at it straight away, sensing Willow’s glare without needing to see it, “Come on, you’re putting clothes on at least until bedtime. No arguments.”  
  
  
JJ sighed deeply, like this was the worst thing that ever happened to him but did begrudgingly start to climb the stairs when Tara set him down. Tara followed, meeting Willow half-way up and but a warm hand on her shoulder.  
  
  
“Rough day?”   
  
  
Willow nodded, looking both irritated and exhausted. Tara gave her shoulder a quick squeeze.  
  
  
“It’s the weekend. I’ll be home all day to take over.”  
  
  
Willow nodded, her lack of words telling of the mood she was in. Tara didn’t want to worsen it at all, so just softly kissed her cheek.  
  
  
“I’ll go make sure he can find his new shorts.”  
  
  
She continued up the stairs while Willow made her way down them and was just about to turn into the living room when she heard a knock on the front door. She clenched her teeth and sighed as she went over to open it, blinking in surprise when she saw Xander there and jumping a little in fright when he shoved a black photo frame into her hands.  
  
  
“Hey, Will! Your temp cover found this behind one of your monitors and gave it to me. Must’ve slipped behind there when you were cleaning your office out. Thought you might want it back.”  
  
  
Willow actually smiled for a moment as she saw the photo of Tara and JJ from a few years previously and left it on the small hall table.  
  
  
“Thanks,” she said to Xander, leaning against the door frame, “How’s the newbie doing?”  
  
  
“Nothing like our Willster but getting the job done,” Xander replied with a warm smile, “Nothing for you to worry about except bringing that little girl into our big ole family.”  
  
  
Willow put a hand on her stomach and moved it around in an attempt to aid the cramps she was experiencing.  
  
  
“She’s determined to take up every last available inch inside me between now and then,” she said, then groaned as she got another of the incredibly painful back spasms she’d been having all day, “Eurgh, I need to sit down. My back is _killing_ me. Come in.”  
  
  
Xander started to step inside and closed the door but didn’t follow Willow into the living room as he saw Tara descending the stairs and offered a wave and a smile.   
  
  
“She’s really starting to feel it, huh?”  
  
  
Tara cast a wary glance towards the living room and nodded.  
  
  
“She feels about ready to pop. Could be any day now, really.”  
  
  
“Oh I remember,” Xander replied with a slight shudder at the memory of his the moods of his heavily pregnant wife, “Hey, can I say something, proud Papa to proud…”  
  
  
“Mommy,” Tara finished with a smile and Xander nodded sheepishly.  
  
  
“Yeah. I feared for my life when Anya was in the last couple of weeks and um…” he trailed for a moment as he thought, “Well let’s just say a lot of threats were made involving Little Xander and scissors. Not _little_ – ”  
  
  
Tara held up a hand to indicate she understood and didn't need to know more, while Xander cleared his throat, embarrassed.  
  
  
“Right. Sorry. I just meant, I know how rough it is. For both of you. And I could only imagine if we had been dealing with Alex too…” he trailed off again before finally getting out what he was trying to say, “Do you need a night off? I’d be happy to take JJ for the night. We have pizza and movie nights every Friday, he’s more than welcome.”  
  
  
Tara looked almost relieved and smiled.  
  
  
“Really? That would be wonderful. Willow’s so on edge and he’s so hyper with the summer vacation and she has to deal with him all day…”  
  
  
“No problem,” Xander replied with a warm smile, just as JJ came back downstairs in a t-shirt and shorts.  
  
  
Tara ruffled his hair as he came to stand beside her.  
  
  
“Hey, would you like to have a sleepover with Alex tonight?”  
  
  
“We’re watching Transformers,” Xander added as an incentive, “And I have inside information that there’s Rocky Road ice cream.”  
  
  
JJ started bouncing with excitement.  
  
  
“Yeah!”  
  
  
“High five,” Xander said, offering his hand, which was slapped in return.  
  
  
“Okay, do you want to pack your own bag?” Tara asked, trying to encourage some independence in him, “You need jammies and clothes for tomorrow and your toothbrush. Can you get all of that?”  
  
  
JJ nodded dutifully and ran back upstairs to get his bag ready. Tara started walking towards the living room and indicated for Xander to follow. She saw Willow hunched over on the sofa, trying to rub the small of her back and sat down beside her, taking over the task.  
  
  
“Honey, JJ’s going to go for a sleepover with Alex so we can spend the evening together.”  
  
  
Willow look up, her eyes tired, but there was a flash of gratefulness.  
  
  
“Thanks, Xand.”  
  
  
Xander waved a hand in front of him and smiled kindly.  
  
  
“Not a problem, Will. I love my guy time with the boys.”  
  
  
JJ appeared in the doorway by Xander then, his back pack thrown over his shoulder and grinning at the prospect of his evening.  
  
  
“Weady!”  
  
  
Tara held her hand out for him and he threw his arms around her before looking cautiously at Willow.  
  
  
“Say goodnight to Momma,” Tara gently encouraged.  
  
  
Willow leant forwards and embraced him as best she could for a moment.  
  
  
“Goodnight, JJ,” she whispered with a lot of love.  
  
  
“Yeah, okay,” JJ replied coolly before bouncing over to Xander, “My favourite’s Optimus Pwime! He’s like zoom, zoom, zoom!”  
  
  
“He’s my favourite too,” Xander replied jovially, then waved at the girls, “We’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll drop him back. Not too early.”  
  
  
Tara wiggled her fingers in a wave.  
  
  
“Bye guys.”  
  
  
The door opened and closed a moment later and Tara saw Willow’s face crumple straight away.  
  
  
“He hates me.”  
  
  
Tara pulled Willow’s head down her chest and gently stroked her hair.  
  
  
“No, darling. He loves you. You’re his Momma. Everyone’s just hot and cranky and we all needed a little break.”  
  
  
Willow sniffled a little and raised her head.  
  
  
“Yeah, okay.”  
  
  
Tara gently cupped her cheek and smiled at her warmly.  
  
  
“Why don’t I make us some dinner and we can watch a movie too. Spaghetti bolognaise?”  
  
  
Willow nodded silently and wiped at her eyes. Tara kissed her tenderly between her eyes before standing and leaving for the kitchen.  
  
  
She rustled up the spaghetti bolognaise and some garlic bread in about 40 minutes and brought two full platefuls into the living room, where Willow had changed into grey sweats and a huge oversized t-shirt, a tired scowl permanently residing on her face. She was watching some comedy show that Tara didn’t recognise.  
  
  
Willow looked up when Tara came in and sat up a little, though not much, taking her plate when she was offered it and letting it rest on top of her belly as she ate. Tara sat beside her but didn’t cuddle up, sensing Willow would be less than receptive, and finished about half of her dinner before she was full and went to set the rest down on the coffee table.  
  
  
“Are you eating that?” Willow asked before it even touched the wood.  
  
  
Tara shook her head ‘no’ and Willow instantly pounced on it, replacing her own empty plate with it.  
  
  
Tara relaxed back into the sofa and turned her gaze to her wife, much more interested in watching Willow than whatever it was that was on TV. She smiled lovingly to herself as she watched how Willow’s hair fell over her shoulders with a perfect bounce, even with various parts sticking up and out from where it hadn’t been fully brushed.   
  
  
She watched how Willow’s cheekbones still protruded from her full cheeks as she chewed and how her plump lips slurped a piece of spaghetti through them. She felt her heart warm as took in the sheer glow that Willow had been emanating from herself for nine months now; it looked like she was constantly surrounded by a heavenly radiance in Tara’s opinion, like she was always in the presence of a goddess.   
  
  
Willow noticed eyes on her after a minute or two and looked over, brow creased.  
  
  
“Wha’ are you goo-ing?” she asked through a mouthful of pasta and meat sauce.  
  
  
Tara rested her head against the back of the sofa and reached out, not quite touching Willow, just tracing her wife’s features in the air.  
  
  
“Falling in love with you.”  
  
  
Willow’s jaw set in annoyance and she left the almost-empty plate on the coffee table, folding her arms over her chest as she flopped back down.  
  
  
“I know I look like crap, but you don’t have to be so sarcastic,” she retorted angrily, “I’m nine months pregnant with _your_ baby, you know.”  
  
  
Tara swallowed a few times at the harsh tone and turned to sit forwards, her voice quiet and hurt.  
  
  
“I was being serious.”  
  
  
Willow looked surprised, then remorseful and tentatively reached out to put her hand on Tara’s shoulder.  
  
  
“You were?”  
  
  
Tara didn’t react to the touch but didn’t ignore Willow either.  
  
  
“Of course.”  
  
  
Willow shuffled over to Tara’s side and took her hand gently.  
  
  
“Take me upstairs?”  
  
  
Tara turned to look at her and forgave her with a soft smile.  
  
  
“Sure. Are you sleepy or do you want me to bring your laptop so you can watch a movie?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head, a little bashfully.  
  
  
“ _Take me upstairs._ ”  
  
  
“Oh,” Tara replied, slightly wide-eyed in understanding, “Really?”  
  
  
Willow smiled shyly.  
  
  
“If you can work with my complete lack of mobility and flexibility.”  
  
  
Tara answered her smile and leaned over to kiss her softly. Willow lifted her hand and gently stroked her wife’s face; offering a silent, unneeded, but appreciated apology. Tara found the remote and switched the television off before offering her hands to Willow to help her up.   
  
  
Willow took them with a smile and popped another kiss on Tara’s lips before being led upstairs.   
  
  
“Sorry I’m Crabby McCraberson,” she said apologetically as Tar closed their bedroom door behind them, “There’s no right side of the bed for me these days.”  
  
  
Tara approached Willow and gently embraced her from behind.  
  
“Come here,” she whispered, leaving a soft trail of kisses against her wife’s neck and rubbing the small of her back, getting a moan of appreciation in return, “Would you like a back massage?”  
  
  
Willow slumped a little and looked behind to Tara with a grateful smile.  
  
  
“It’s been so sore all day. Way more than usual. Probably from trying to run after JJ.”  
  
  
Tara guided Willow to the bed and onto her side, gently pulling her wife’s t-shirt over her head and dropping it to the floor before beginning to dig the palm of her hand into her lower back.  
  
  
“I’ll have a talk with him, okay? Try and make things a bit easier for you,” she said, easing the strength of her hand when she saw Willow close her eyes and give a soft sigh, “I’ll keep rubbing, you go to sleep.”  
  
  
Willow fluttered her eyes open again and looked over her shoulder with a sleepy but warm smile.  
  
  
“But I want my Tara.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly and rested her chin on Willow’s shoulder, squeezing her hip affectionately.  
  
  
“I’m here.”  
  
  
Willow gave a coy look and put her hand on top of Tara’s, sliding it into her sweats.  
  
  
“I _really_ want my Tara.”  
  
  
Tara felt her fingertips begin to tingle as she brushed them across Willow’s outer thigh and couldn’t help a moan as they reached a little further and pressed into the front of her panties. Willow gasped as she felt a trickle of arousal seep from her, then surprised Tara by suddenly pushing herself up and over so she was straddling the blonde.  
  
  
Tara squirmed in delight as Willow tried not to show the effort it was taking to simply breathe from her sudden manoeuvre. Tara saw the flushed cheeks and quietly moved her hands to her wife’s hips to take some of her weight.  
  
  
Willow gratefully slumped a little and took a moment to compose herself before placing her own hands atop Tara’s and pushing them down, the waistband of her sweats falling with them.  
  
  
“You just gonna lie there or are you going to get me naked?”  
  
  
Tara could feel her heart pounding with excitement; nights of intimacy had been few and far between over the past few weeks and Willow being so forward about it had been non-existent. Tara was more than happy to just kiss and cuddle her wife all she wanted, but she wasn’t about to let go of an opportunity when Willow seemed to be feeling passionate.  
  
  
She yanked the sweatpants down to Willow’s knees and lifted each of them up to throw them the rest of the way off. Her hands went back to Willow’s hips as her eyes greedily took in her wife’s nude form before she reached under where the bump was hovering and wiggled a little to free herself of her skirt.   
  
  
Willow dropped a little so her thighs gently sat on top of Tara’s and licked her lips at the flood of desire she felt at the contact, giving her a moment of escape from the severe aching her body was putting her through.  
  
  
She leaned her weight forward on one outstretched hand above Tara’s shoulder and used the other to unbutton her wife’s blouse, pushing the fabric to one side. Her fingertips danced along Tara’s stomach and she could feel the muscles underneath rippling from even the briefest touch, making her realise how much she’d missed her wife in this way and how much she’d been missed in return.  
  
  
She dragged her eyes up to meet Tara’s, locking with them in an intense gaze. Her lips parted in invitation as she saw Tara start to lean up and her fingers clutched the sheet tightly as they met in a soft but passionate kiss.  
  
  
“Tara,” Willow breathed throatily as their lips met over and over again, the twisting ache in her stomach turning into knots of desire instead.  
  
  
She felt Tara’s hand brush her hair over to one side and let out a soft moan as fingers began to massage the back of her neck. Tara sucked Willow’s bottom lip into her mouth, stroking along it with her tongue.  
  
  
Willow let her tongue fall out to play with Tara’s a bit, teasing her with gentle flicks and nips until the position of bending over became too much for her and she sat back on her heels, thrusting her chest forward in a stretch.  
  
  
Tara happily enjoyed the view the stretching provided for a moment before ridding herself of her opened shirt and bra so she was just lying beneath Willow in her panties.   
  
  
Willow sighed in satisfaction as she felt her muscles strain back into comfort and straightened up, opening her eyes, which lit up as she saw Tara’s bare chest looking back at her.  
  
  
They both stayed in a trance of staring at each other, appreciating each curve and line present until Willow suddenly moved and a squelching sound from between her legs broke both of their attentions. Willow blushed bright red at the amount of arousal that was slipping from her but Tara just reached up to stroke her cheek tenderly.  
  
  
“You sound like you’re in need of a hand.”  
  
  
Willow leaned into the touch and kissed Tara’s fingertips before taking the hand and slowly, teasingly dragging it down her body and leaving it between her legs. Her breath hitched as she felt Tara caress her damp thighs and mound before gliding into her folds.  
  
  
She found herself unable to hold her own body weight again as Tara’s touch sent her limbs week and arched her back, using her wife’s breasts as stabilising agents this time, cupping both fully.  
  
  
Tara jerked at the contact, causing her fingers to hit against the bump in her wife’s flesh. Willow almost screamed at the sharp jolt of pleasure that rippled through her abdomen, her fingernails digging into Tara’s breasts in an instinctive squeeze.  
  
  
Tara took a hold of Willow’s hip with her spare hand as she began to rub the little bud under her fingers, feeling her own nipples hardening under her wife’s palms as she did so. When she felt shaking hands start to pinch her there, her eyes fluttered closed in pleasure and hand stilled.  
  
  
Willow made a noise of discontent at the loss of movement, which quickly snapped Tara back into action and she dropped her hand. She began to circle her wife’s entrance, but Willow pulled her hips away and hissed as she did so.   
  
  
Tara dropped her hand to Willow’s thigh and looked up at her in concern.  
  
  
“Sweetie?”  
  
  
Willow cracked an eye open, swallowing at the sting she had felt when Tara touched her opening.  
  
  
“I guess I’m a little tender.”  
  
  
A hand went to stroke Willow’s cheek again.  
  
  
“I can stop.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head desperately so Tara started to enter again, more tenderly this time, but slipped right out. Willow blushed wildly as she felt it and closed her legs a little to try and accommodate.  
  
  
“Can you use some more? But gentle.”  
  
  
Tara positioned another finger at her wife’s entrance and again tenderly entered. She stayed in this time, though could feel Willow actively tightening her muscles to make sure and thought she probably wouldn’t have been able to provide any friction if the redhead wasn’t.  
  
  
She had a moment of marvelling admiration at all her wife’s body was changing in preparation for the baby but the thought didn’t linger long as she felt an insistent push down and started to move her fingers in and out, slowly and gently, listening keenly for any sounds of discomfort.  
  
  
Willow still felt the odd stinging sensation inside her as Tara moved but it wasn’t as sharp as it was initially, and the feelings of pleasure were quickly overriding it. She made sure to keep her muscles clamped, embarrassed at how ‘loose’ she had become without even noticing, and continued to squeeze her wife’s breasts in a steady sync with the way her hips were moving.  
  
  
She felt Tara giving her total control over how they moved and found the perfect rhythm for herself before opening her eyes to stare lovingly at her wife.  
  
  
“Feels so good, baby.”  
  
  
Tara tentatively reached a little deeper and smiled when it resulted in a moan of the good kind.  
  
  
“It feels so good to be inside you.”  
  
  
Willow eyes closed again as she felt the deeper touch and rolled her hips a little faster, then gasped sharply as she felt a hand softly palm her breast and roll her rock-hard nipple.   
  
  
A haze of pleasure she hadn’t felt in a while began to cloud her mind, spiralling out of control a lot faster than she wanted; wanting the pleasure of all things Tara to never end, but her body had a different idea as swells began to burst inside her, shocking her nerve endings and erupting in a final, all-encompassing whole-body shake, accompanied with a loud cry.  
  
  
Tara felt a throb between her legs at the sound of Willow’s release but didn’t have a chance to linger on it as she saw her wife’s body suddenly falling forwards. She reacted quickly and caught her, moving them both onto their sides so she was spooning the redhead, still inside of her. She was about to pull out, but her wrist was grasped tightly, keeping her in place.  
  
  
“Don’t…stop…” Willow said, her voice raspy.  
  
  
Tara was confused, but it only took her a second to understand what Willow meant.  
  
  
“Keep going? Again?”  
  
  
Willow could only nod mutely, her mouth hanging open, apparently still in the midst of coming and intent on not stopping. Tara dropped her head into Willow’s neck and started to kiss her skin as her fingers began to gently move again.  
  
  
Willow started to shake the moment Tara resumed her actions; sighing and moaning at each nip and thrust, her arousal growing as she felt her wife’s breasts pushing into her back.  
  
  
Tara too was growing more aroused as her straining nipples hit against Willow’s skin and unable to control herself any longer, she pushed back a little and adjusted the seam of her panties against her clit, then started to push her hips against Willow’s buttocks.  
  
  
A deep sigh of satisfaction left her lips as she finally got some desperately-needed friction and her lips began to suck and lick at Willow’s skin more insistently.   
  
  
Willow felt the powerful surge of a second orgasm looming upon her, though she wasn’t quite sure the first one had ever stopped, and reached up for Tara’s hand from the arm that was lying under her neck, squeezing tight as her body exploded once more.  
  
  
Tara gently removed her hand as she felt the explosion against her again, slipping into her own panties; coming almost instantly as she rubbed her bud with her Willow-coated fingers.  
  
  
She slumped against Willow’s back and took her hand back, putting it on her wife’s hip reassuringly when she saw her begin to fret and look around.  
  
  
“You’re okay. I’ve got you.”  
  
  
Willow settled instantly and gave Tara’s hand another squeeze, looking over her shoulder at her wife with a smile.  
  
  
“I love you.”  
  
  
“I love you, too,” Tara whispered with a tender kiss, only for Willow to pull away with a grimace, “Are you alright?”  
  
  
“Mmhhmm,” Willow replied unconvincingly, shifting around on the bed, “Just all with the bouncy-bouncy after all that food. Major cramps.”  
  
  
“Want a tummy rub?” Tara asked kindly, putting her hand on Willow’s belly, just for her to shiver, “You chilly?”  
  
  
Willow looked towards where her oversized tee had been dropped to the ground.  
  
  
“Maybe just that t-shirt…”  
  
  
Tara rolled over and slipped off the bed, picking up the discarded garment and helping it over Willow’s head.  
  
  
“There you go,” she said with a loving kiss on Willow’s cheek, “Tummy rubs in T minus sixty, okay? I just have to pee really quick.”  
  
  
Tara pressed another quick kiss against Willow’s cheek before grabbing another large t-shirt from the dresser for herself and discreetly picking out a new pair of panties, then disappeared into the bathroom.   
  
  
Willow tried to focus on the nice, post-orgasmic relaxation that her body was humming with and not the deep ache in her back and stomach, but wasn’t succeeding very well until she heard the toilet flush and felt Tara crawl back into bed with her.  
  
  
When there weren’t arms around her and hands rubbing her belly instantaneously, her face contorted into a pout.  
  
  
“You gonna snuggle me? I need my Tare-bear.”  
  
  
The light went out and Tara got into just that position; snuggling, nuzzling and caressing Willow.  
  
  
“And I need my Willow-pillow.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Willow shut her eyes tight as she tried to quash the pains shooting across her stomach, regretting eating Tara’s dinner as well as her own. She glanced at sleeping Tara beside her and thought about waking her up to make her some tea, but decided against it – she knew her wife wouldn’t mind, but she still felt bad about how short-tempered she’d been lately, the brunt of which Tara had taken.  
  
  
She tried some of the breathing techniques she’d been taught from their birthing classes and with the midwife, hoping it somehow worked for indigestion as well; going with an odd pushing sense she felt, trying to push the pain right out of her.   
  
  
She breathed a sigh of relief when the pains passed after a tense minute, then frowned as she realised the pains were lasting longer and longer and getting more intense.  
  
  
 _Jeez, it was just some pasta. Maybe the beef was bad or something. Last thing I need is food poisoning right now._  
  
  
Just as she was on the verge of actually waking Tara to get her tea or an antacid or even just a tummy rub to make her feel better again, her whole body went stiff as she felt a flood suddenly burst from between her legs.  
  
  
“No way,” she whispered, having been so consumed with the aches and pains to even take a moment to think what it probably meant, “Tara! TARA!”  
  
  
Tara stirred as she heard Willow calling for her and grinned sleepily and she cuddled into her side.  
  
  
“Do you want to go again?” she asked in a low murmur, pressing her lips against Willow’s neck, “You’re insatiable tonight.”  
  
  
Willow started clawing at the sheets, trying to find her wife’s hand.  
  
  
“N-no, no. Tara! Tara!”  
  
  
Tara finally registered the puddle of wet they were surrounded in, but didn’t jump to the right conclusion. She opened her eyes and kissed Willow's temple.  
  
  
“Oh, honey, that’s okay, that happens,” she said gently with a reassuring smile and started to sit up, “I’ll just change the sheets. It’s fine, really.”  
  
  
Willow was about to explain the misunderstanding but didn’t get a chance as she suddenly shot up in the bed, clutching her stomach as the sharpest pain she’d even experienced ripped through her abdomen.  
  
  
“Dammit, Tara, I’m in labour!”


	63. Chapter 63

  
The words rang in Tara’s ears but didn’t quite register in her brain.  
  
  
“Huh?”  
  
  
Willow screamed as an even more intense pain squeezed through her insides and felt tears spring to her eyes as her teeth clenched together.  
  
  
“Labour, Tara. I. AM. IN. LABOUR.”  
  
  
Tara just looked at her wife as if she was trying to figure out a riddle she’d just been told, so Willow grabbed her shirt and began pulling aggressively.  
  
  
“THE BABY’S COMING!”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes went wide and she sprang from the bed.  
  
  
“Holy crap!” she yelled, spinning around in circles, gesticulating wildly, “I-I-I have to call the midwife!”  
  
  
Willow’s eyes widened in fear and pain.  
  
  
“Don’t leave me, Tara, please don’t-”  
  
  
Tara suddenly realised all at once that she needed to give herself a very brief moment to take a breath, and be the calm one in this situation - no matter how terrified she was, Willow was feeling it tenfold.  
  
  
She climbed back onto the bed and gently took Willow’s face in her hands, leaning her forehead down against her wife’s, looking reassuringly into her tear-glazed eyes.  
  
  
“I’m here, I’m here, I’m right here.”  
  
  
Willow seemed to have an entire second of comfort before her eyes creased in agony again and she began to whimper.  
  
  
“T-Tara, something’s wrong. I-it’s too much, too soon. I-It’s not supposed to be this fast.”  
  
  
Tara swallowed, not allowing her eyes to show any of her fear and bumped Willow’s nose affectionately.  
  
  
“Remember what the midwife said. Every birth is different and nothing in the books is going to prepare us. Now, I’m going to call her so she can come and help us, but everything is going to okay, I promise.”  
  
  
Willow whimpered again but gave a very small nod of trust before her head dropped to her chest and her body tensed with a loud cry. Tara had to blink away her own tears at seeing her wife in such pain and offered her hand to be squeezed as she searched the stacks of books and odd bits of paper on her nightstand for her cell phone.  
  
  
She finally located it and cursed her shaking hand as she tried to scroll and find the number, while Willow twisted and wailed beside her. After several failed attempts and sweaty swipes, the call finally went through and was answered in just a few seconds.  
  
  
“Willow’s in labour!” she blurted, figuring she’d be forgiven for forgoing a greeting.  
  
  
The voice on the other end was calm, saying she was on her way, asking questions, but Tara was struggling to answer in the same way.  
  
  
“They’re not stopping, they’re every 30 seconds. S-she’s been cramping all day, but we didn’t think much of it, and then her water just broke and now she really seems like–”  
  
  
“I need to push!”  
  
  
Tara dropped the phone in shock at Willow’s yelled words.  
  
  
“WHAT?” she yelled back, her voice taking a not-often-reached high tone, then she scrambled to the floor for her phone, which was completely blank with a large crack down the screen, “Hello? Oh my god, oh my god.”  
  
  
She dropped the completely broken phone to the floor and was half a moment away from her second round of freaking out when Willow’s timid voice broke through.  
  
  
“Tara.”  
  
  
Tara quashed her panic and took another quick, deep breath as she gave Willow her other hand to squeeze too.  
  
  
“Okay, darling. It’s all okay. I promise I won’t let anything bad happen, I’m going to keep you both safe,” she said with as much reassurance as she could, then took a look between Willow’s legs and had to stifle another ‘holy crap’ as she the baby was already crowning, “Oh my…”  
  
  
She reached in and felt around, using the ‘finger’ method she’d been taught by the midwife to gauge how far along Willow was and had another round of tensing away her fear as she felt her the full 10 centimetres already, or at least very close to it  
  
  
 _How did this happen? How did she not feel this happening? How did–_  
  
  
“TARA!”  
  
  
Tara shook her head free of her thoughts, deciding no matter how fast it seemed, Willow was deep in labour and it was happening now.  
  
  
She also knew that this wasn’t something she could stall.  
  
  
“We’ve got an impatient little one coming, so you need to start pushing,” she said with as much calmness as she could, not believing the words were coming out of her mouth and not the midwife’s.  
  
  
“ARE YOU CRAZY?!” Willow yelled, ignoring the burning, stinging sensation she’d been told to recognise as a sign that the baby was ready and trying to get out, refusing to believe it.  
  
  
Tara winced and squeezed Willow’s knees.  
  
  
“Remember what we learned? Take short, panting breaths. Little breaths, little pushes.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head furiously.  
  
  
“T-The midwife.”  
  
  
“I’m sure she’ll be here very soon,” Tara said soothingly, quickly realising that she was likely going to have to be the one to deliver their baby if things didn’t slow down; and they appeared to have no intention of it, “But you’ve got me.”  
  
  
Willow felt that utterly overwhelming urge to push again and decided that she must be dreaming, that there was no way she’d gone from tossing and turning to lying in sheets soaked in amniotic fluid with a baby about to fly out of her body.  
  
  
Her resolve face was about to set and she was ready to pinch herself into wakefulness when she caught sight of the look on Tara’s face staring down between her opened legs; shock, terror, awe all mixed together and knew what was happening was very real.  
  
  
She squeezed both of her wife’s hands so hard that at a normal time she would have thought she might break them, but in that moment had only one thing she needed to say before she collapsed under the weight of pressure and pain.  
  
  
“Don’t. Let. Anything. Happen to her.”  
  
  
Tara raised her head and their eyes locked for an extremely intense moment before Willow did collapse back down, then forced herself back into sitting so she could push.  
  
  
Tara pulled every ounce of discussion and practice they’d had with the midwife and doctor to the front of her mind, manoeuvring Willow’s legs open to where they needed to be and started to call out encouragingly, not able to even hear her own voice over the pounding of her heart between her ears.  
  
  
“Sh-she’s coming, Willow! I-I can see her head! She has hair! Keep pushing, Willow, keep breathing, you’re doing it, she’s coming!”  
  
  
Tara gasped as she put her hands gently on the baby’s head as she emerged, trying to delicately pull while blinking away tears, not wanting to cloud her vision.  
  
  
“Shoulders…shoulders are almost out, Willow…breathe, honey, then just a few more pushes, just a few more.”  
  
  
Tara’s mouth hung open in awe as a pair of shoulders twisted out, accompanied by a series of blood-curdling screams and the faint sound of a door banging until she was holding their baby in her entirety, watching her squirm and silently move her mouth, no cry coming yet.  
  
  
Footsteps pounded in the hallway and the midwife appeared in the doorway, having let herself in with the spare key she had been informed was under the potted plant in one of their early birth plan meetings. She seemed surprised to see them in the position they were in for a moment before she snapped into professional mode and rushed over, dropping her bag and swooping the baby from Tara’s arms, checking her over.  
  
  
“When did she come out?”  
  
  
“J-Just now,” Tara replied, still in shock, before her attention focused away to Willow for a second, who appeared to be lying back, unconscious, body rigid and face stiff in agony. She dropped to her knees on the floor and skidded up to her, taking her face and leaving quick, wet kisses all over her, “You did so good. You did so good, honey.”  
  
  
She kept repeating those words as Willow seemed to stir a little before her glazed eyes flew open and she jerked up as much as she could.  
  
  
“-she? Where...she...my baby...”  
  
  
“Right…here,” the midwife answered, coming forward with the baby, cleaned up but still naked and the cord still attached, “10 fingers, 10 toes, your perfectly healthy baby girl.”  
  
  
She gently placed the baby down and Willow held her on her chest in reverence. Willow's mouth opened and closed as she stared down at the perfectly formed tiny, pink body with her small mop of light hair, still silently moving her mouth around as she got used to the sensation of breathing.  
  
  
“She’s not crying,” Willow said in alarm, looking up through the sweaty hair flopped over her brow, “Why isn’t she crying?!”  
  
  
“She’s breathing,” the midwife assured, “Don’t worry, she’s fine, just needs a minute.”  
  
  
Willow looked back down and watched the gentle rise and fall of the baby’s chest as she heard Tara start to sing beside her; a slowed down, emotional, tender and almost husky rendition.  
  
  
“Happy Birthday… to you. Happy Birthday…to you. Happy Birthday…Happy Birthday…Happy Birthday…to you.”  
  
  
“Tara…” Willow whispered, barely audible as she instinctively rocked the baby lightly.  
  
  
“I see her,” Tara replied in the same wonder-filled tone, “Hi little bean. Hi Robyn.”  
  
  
She reached up to very gently stroke the baby’s head, straightening out a tuft of the strawberry-blonde hair until the midwife’s voice cut through the silence.  
  
  
“Tara would you like to cut the cord?”  
  
  
Tara turned to Willow.  
  
  
“Can I? Is that okay with you?”  
  
  
Willow just nodded, too caught up to say anything and the midwife helped Tara to cut the cord near the baby’s bellybutton, leaving the stub there to fall off in its own time. Tara fell back to her position on the floor, leaning over her girls, and started to just repeatedly kiss the side of Willow’s head, overcome at the emotion of the experience.  
  
  
“Look at her eyes…” Willow whispered, not even noticing the midwife covering her with a sheet and examining her underneath, “They’re so bright. They’re…”  
  
  
“Turquoise,” Tara replied with a joyous smile, leaning her head against Willow’s, “Blue and green.”  
  
  
Willow affectionately stroked the baby’s nose.  
  
  
“Wow…”  
  
  
There was no sound in the room for the next several minutes apart from the midwife who was bustling around doing what she needed while giving the family some space until it was time for her to be needed in her professional capacity again.  
  
  
“Willow, I just need a final couple of pushes from you to get the afterbirth out.”  
  
  
Willow looked deeply conflicted at having to divert her attention so Tara reached out to stroke her cheek tenderly.  
  
  
“Can I hold her a sec?” she asked, her arms aching to hold the little girl again, “I’ll give her right back.”  
  
  
Willow’s face softened and she nodded.  
  
  
“Of course,” she replied, very carefully holding the baby out, “Say hi to Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara tried to control the shake in her arms as she cradled her baby girl and the tears that had been ready to fall for so long finally did as she leant down and kissed her square between her eyes.  
  
  
“You beautiful, precious little girl.”  
  
  
The midwife coached Willow in what needed to be done and started the clean-up procedure as much as she could while a deep, penetrating cry suddenly hit against the walls.  
  
  
“That’s a healthy cry,” the midwife commented with a smile.  
  
  
Tara instinctively held her crying daughter close to try and comfort her through her first cry, then saw the wrenching look on Willow’s face and decided her wife needed the cuddle more than she did in that moment, after all she went through.  
  
  
“Do you want to go back to Momma?” she asked, exhaling shakily as she offered the baby back to Willow, “Here you go, here’s your momma.”  
  
  
Willow shot Tara a grateful look and held Robyn lengthways so her tiny cheek rested against her own.  
  
  
“You’re okay, pretty girl. We love you, we love you so much.”  
  
  
Robyn quietened but didn’t settle completely, wriggling around as her eyes blinked open fully for the first time. The midwife stood over them from the opposite side and smiled warmly.  
  
  
“Bethany is everything okay?” Tara asked, one hand stroking Willow’s hair, the other, Robyn’s, “Things happened…so fast. I mean, really…so fast. Our birth plan went right out the window. I don’t even think it was ten minutes from when Willow’s water broke to…her.”  
  
  
“Water breaks the majority of the time only when you’re quite far progressed in labour,” the midwife explained, “You must have been in labour all day and not realised, Willow. You’re quite the trooper.”  
  
  
“The pains were normal…just more intense,” Willow replied, turning her head in to kiss Robyn’s cheek, “I just figured it was because I was getting closer and closer. Guess I didn’t realise how close.”  
  
  
Tara smiled lovingly at her two girls, then looked back to the midwife in question.  
  
  
“There was no tearing or excessive bleeding,” she answered the silent question, “Everything should heal well and timely and your daughter is in perfect condition, we’ll just need to do a standard paediatrician visit over the next few days.”  
  
  
Willow nodded absently, not having heard much after ‘your daughter’ until the midwife spoke up again.  
  
  
“Do you want to try feeding, Willow?”  
  
  
Willow kept her eyes closed and the baby in place, cheek-to-cheek, but looked surprised.  
  
  
“So soon?”  
  
  
“If you’re feeling up to it, now would be an ideal time,” the midwife replied.  
  
  
Willow exhaled slowly and nodded.  
  
  
“Okay, I’ll try.”  
  
  
The midwife encouraged Willow on the other, not as destroyed, side of the bed and Tara got a blanket from the closet to cover her, holding the baby as she gingerly lifted her t-shirt over her head.  
  
  
Willow took the baby back to her chest, gasping at the sensation of the skin-on-skin contact and Tara modestly covered them. Willow swallowed a lump of emotion as she guided the baby’s head into position and encouraged her nipple into her mouth.  
  
  
Tara watched it all play out in awe, but Robyn didn’t seem willing to latch on.  
  
  
“She might not be ready yet,” the midwife said reassuringly as she saw Willow's brow crease, “You could have a bath or a shower and try again if you'd like.”  
  
  
Willow whimpered at the thought of having to give up her hold again and Tara stroked both of their hair at the same time.  
  
  
“I’ll hold her right beside you.”  
  
  
Willow sleepily agreed, wanting to just be clean and ready to have non-stop snuggles with her wife and daughter. She delicately stood, uncaring that was completely naked, and kept Robyn close to her chest as she and Tara walked into the bathroom.  
  
  
Tara set the shower up for Willow and lined the floor with towels so the curtain wouldn’t have to be pulled and she could just sit on the toilet with the baby while her wife stood under the nozzle.  
  
  
Willow held onto the shower rail as she stepped under the water, her knees bent outwards to alleviate the ache she was sure would be there for a while and spent several long moments just staring down at Tara cooing and cradling their baby.  
  
  
“I can’t wait for JJ to meet her. Should we call him?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head softly.  
  
  
“Probably best to wait until the morning. It's the middle of the night. You could use a little rest and she could too.”  
  
  
Willow gently wiped herself down with a washcloth as she had been instructed by the midwife, but was barely grazing her skin as she found herself quite easily distracted.  
  
  
“Tara, she’s perfect. We made a perfect angel.”  
  
  
Tara was silent but the way she was looking down at the baby, who appeared to have fallen asleep, was indicative that she very much agreed. She peppered Robyn’s face with small kisses before looking up at Willow, eyes shining with emotion.  
  
  
“You…” she trailed off as she swallowed a lump, “I will spend the rest of my life trying to thank you for this and I won’t ever come close. Are you okay? Are you in pain?”  
  
  
“It's...it goes away anytime I see her,” Willow replied, smiling as she looked at her sleeping daughter’s features, recognising Tara’s cheekbones, “She looks like you.”  
  
  
Tara shook her head, clearly seeing a widow’s peak in their baby’s hairline that matched Willow’s.  
  
  
“She looks like you.”  
  
  
“She kind of looks like…us,” Willow responded, realising how much of themselves had managed to mix in her, genetics or not, “Her eyes…and her hair…and everything. All mishy-mashy, Willow-Tara-y.”  
  
  
“And all herself too,” Tara whispered, “Her tiny self.”  
  
  
Tara decided it was an opportune time to demonstrate the baby’s tininess by gently stroking her fingers and holding them up to stare in awe until her attention was pulled away by a quiet knock on the door.  
  
  
The midwife was standing there, keeping her eyes directed at Tara so as to not cause Willow to be uncomfortable.  
  
  
“Tara? Are your spare sheets in the closet?”  
  
  
“You don’t have to…” Tara started before just smiling softly, “Yes. First shelf. Thank you.”  
  
  
“She might be ready to try feeding again whenever you feel able, Willow,” the midwife said, smiling briefly before disappearing again.  
  
  
Robyn apparently agreed as her eyes flicked open and her mouth opened in a low but needy cry.  
  
  
“Hungry, baby girl?” Tara asked, then looked up to see Willow’s nipples had begun to leak, “Looks like you’re ready.”  
  
  
Willow glanced down in surprise for a moment, then started to step from the shower.  
  
  
“Let me help, let me help,” Tara said, quickly standing and offering her shoulder to lean on.  
  
  
Willow stepped out onto the towels and looked to Tara in a silent request. Tara gave the baby back to her wife and Willow let herself be wrapped in a towel before they slowly walked back into the bedroom, which showed no sign of having been the scene of childbirth less than an hour before; the bed-linen changed into fresh white sheets with a trash bag in the corner housing the old ones.  
  
  
Willow went straight to the bed to lie with Robyn on her chest and the midwife whispered something to Tara, who disappeared out of the room and came back just a few moments later with a pair of underwear with a pad in it, which she quietly helped Willow put on before taking her place beside them.  
  
  
“Willow, did you want to try feeding again?” the midwife asked and Willow nodded.  
  
  
The midwife helped Willow get into a good nursing position and tried some of her tricks on getting Robyn to latch on, but the baby was struggling.  
  
  
“She doesn’t want me,” Willow said forlornly, looking up with creased eyes, “Does she know I’m not…that she’s not mine…biologically?”  
  
  
Tara pressed her lips against Willow’s cheek and brushed a finger across Robyn’s.  
  
  
“Look at that resolve face,” she whispered, “All yours.”  
  
  
Willow sniffled but then gave a small smile at the resolute features that appeared to be on their daughter’s face.  
  
  
“That does look like a resolve face.”  
  
  
“Just give her a moment,” the midwife encouraged, recognising the movement the baby had started to make and smiling when her mouth finally connected just a second later.  
  
  
“She’s latching! She’s doing it!” Willow exclaimed excitedly as she watched and felt the pressure around her nipple, “You’re doing it, Robyn!”  
  
  
Tara reached to stroke the baby’s hair, but pulled away, afraid of disturbing her, so contented herself with resting her chin on Willow’s shoulder.  
  
  
“Wow.”  
  
  
“She’s feeding from me,” Willow gushed, her wet hair falling into her face.  
  
  
Tara tenderly brushed it aside.  
  
  
“I know. It’s amazing,” she said softly, stroking Willow’s wrist on the hand under Robyn, “What does it feel like?”  
  
  
“Weird. And sore,” Willow replied with a giggle before smiling, “But wonderful.”  
  
  
Robyn suckled on Willow’s breast for a few moments before dropping off. Willow looked up worriedly.  
  
  
“Is that enough?”  
  
  
“She’ll tell you how much she wants and how often, you’ll settle into a routine,” the midwife replied with a kind smile, “Probably a good idea to get a diaper on her.”  
  
  
“Could I?” Tara asked hopefully, wanting to feel something to connect to the baby after watching her feed.  
  
  
Willow lifted Robyn and gave her a gentle kiss on the head while Tara covered her with the blanket, then gratefully took the bundle into her arms.  
  
  
“I love you, Robyn,” she whispered, then looked up to Willow, “Can I get you anything? Anything at all?”  
  
  
Willow shook her head softly.  
  
  
“Bring her right back so we can all snuggle together.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded before slipping off the bed, to where the midwife had laid out a towel and a diaper, ready to go.  
  
  
“I’ve left some breastfeeding cream here. You can help her apply it as often as she needs,” the midwife said to Tara as she knelt down, “I assume you remember how to do this?”  
  
  
“Oh yes,” Tara replied, leaving the baby down with some soothing coos, her hands trembling as she lifted her up and secured the diaper around her, not realising the shakes were coming from herself, “Is she cold? Should we put clothes on her?”  
  
  
She stood back up and held Robyn’s head against her chest, rocking her slightly.  
  
  
“I would encourage as much skin to skin contact as she can, certainly for this night,” the midwife replied with a reassuring squeeze on Tara’s arm, “I’m going to give you guys some time alone, but stick around just for a few hours to make sure everything is okay. Is it alright with you if I just sit in your living room and make a coffee?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara replied, looking to the woman with deep gratitude, “Thank you… so much.”  
  
  
The midwife smiled back and picked up her own medical bag and the bag of things to be disposed of that she’d gathered by the door before leaving silently. Tara moved back to the bed and left the baby on Willow’s chest, then knelt down on the floor beside them.  
  
  
“Would you mind if I took my shirt off and cuddled with you both under there?” she asked quietly, “The midwife said skin-to-skin contact was good for her…I’d like some too.”  
  
  
“You don’t even have to ask that,” Willow replied as if she was crazy to think she’d say otherwise and smiled as Tara lifted her shirt over her head and snuggled in beside them, “Look, it’s Mommy. Look how beautiful your Mommy is.”  
  
  
Willow manoeuvred them so the baby was lying on both of their chests, with both sets of arms holding her steady comfortably.  
  
  
“You’re so beautiful, Robyn,” Tara whispered, bringing Robyn’s hand up to kiss her tiny palm, then leaned over to kiss Willow softly, breathing into her, “You’re so beautiful, Willow.”  
  
  
Their lips gently caressed each other, the first time since their very abrupt awakening, until Tara felt a pressure around her finger and looked down to see Robyn’s little hand curved around it.  
  
  
“Willow, look.”  
  
  
“She’s so strong,” Willow remarked quietly, “I can’t believe she’s here.”  
  
  
Tara moved her finger up and down as if she was shaking the baby’s hand and felt Willow slump a little against her.  
  
  
“You should try and sleep.”  
  
  
Willow shook her head, her gaze never leaving Robyn’s face.  
  
  
“I just want to watch her forever.”  
  
  
Tara turned and looked at Willow intently.  
  
  
“I’ll keep you both safe.”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly.  
  
  
“She will, Robyn, your Mommy’s the strongest person I know,” she said to the baby lovingly, “You are safe, and loved.”  
  
  
Minutes and hours passed with kissing and caressing between all three, the only words spoken that of awe and wonder until the midwife came back to give them a final check before leaving.  
  
  
“What do we do now?” Willow asked as very early-morning sunlight streamed in through the window, “Do we let everyone know? It’s morning.”  
  
  
Tara ran her finger over the curve of Robyn’s ear and smiled.  
  
  
“There’s time for that. I think right now all we need to do is keep cuddling our little girl.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Tara opened the front door; only moments after the doorbell had stopped ringing, and smiled widely when she saw JJ and Xander standing there. She bent down and scooped JJ into her arms, holding him tight and dropping kisses all over his face until his squirming forced her to stop and stand.  
  
  
“Did you have a nice night?” she asked and got a happy nod.  
  
  
“We had pizza and ice-cream and watched Transformers 1 _and_ 2! I stayed up super late!”  
  
  
Tara let out a low chuckle.  
  
  
“Your evening sounds almost as eventful as ours.”  
  
  
Xander shot Tara an odd look at that, thinking it unusual for her to make any reference to sex in front of the little boy but Tara didn’t see it as she leant down to JJ’s level.  
  
  
“Hey, me and Momma have a surprise for you,” she said with a winning smile, “Do you want to meet your little sister?”  
  
  
“No freakin’ way!” Xander blurted, his mouth hanging out.  
  
  
Tara smiled up at Xander but kept her attention on JJ, who was wide-eyed.  
  
  
“She’s not in Momma’s tummy no more?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head.  
  
  
“She’s in the living room and she can’t wait to meet her big brother.”  
  
  
JJ looked towards the living room door, scared, and Tara took his hand. She motioned for Xander to follow if he wanted and slowly walked with JJ, rounding the doorway to see Willow sitting on the sofa, cradling Robyn in the white dress Tara had bought for her in Sunnydale.  
  
  
“Hi, buddy,” she said warmly as she saw him enter, “Look who I have. Come say hi.”  
  
  
JJ clung to Tara’s leg, unmoving, completely unprepared for having come home to the baby being there. Tara leant down and spoke to him quietly for a minute before they both approached the sofa.  
  
  
JJ carefully and tentatively climbed up beside Willow, peering into her arms at Robyn’s sleeping face.  
  
  
“She’s weally small.”  
  
  
“She is,” Tara replied, scooting close beside them, “Would you like to hold her?”  
  
  
JJ looked wary.  
  
  
“Will I bweak her?”  
  
  
Tara shook her head and gave him an encouraging look.  
  
  
“No, you just have to hold her head extra carefully.”  
  
  
JJ stared at the baby for another moment before sitting back with his arms out. Willow leaned over and slid her into his arms, both she and Tara at the ready to catch her if there was a stumble but JJ held a tight and secure grip on her straight away.  
  
  
“JJ, meet your little sister, Robyn Ruth Rosenberg-Maclay.”  
  
  
“Hi Wobyn,” JJ said to her, still mispronouncing some letters due to his missing front tooth, “I'm Jacob James Rosenberg-Maclay. We have the same last name 'cause I'm your big bruvver!”  
  
  
Robyn stirred then and Willow was ready to take her back if she started to cry but she remained mute, looking up sleepily at JJ. JJ stared down at her with a little bit of wonder before giving a wide grin.  
  
  
“She’s pwetty.”  
  
  
“Tell her,” Willow encouraged.  
  
  
“You’re pwetty!”  
  
  
JJ smiled widely down at her and if Willow wasn’t sure it was way too soon for her to have that kind of facial control, she would have sworn Robyn smiled back. Willow looked up at Tara, who was looking down at the two lovingly, apparently seeing the same thing.  
  
  
Willow stroked Robyn’s hair and leaned down to kiss JJ’s head before rubbing Tara’s arm to get her attention.  
  
  
“We wanted him to see her first, I guess this means we can call in the cavalry.”  
  
  
“I can do that!” Xander piped up loudly from where he’d hung back around the doorway “Do you guys need anything else, food or diapers? I’ll get Anya to bring some!”  
  
  
Willow looked at him gratefully and he whipped out his cell phone, walking over in front of him.  
  
  
“Hey, dude, smile with your sister!”  
  
  
JJ looked up and grinned wildly while Xander snapped a pic to send off to everyone.  
  
  
“How much did she weigh?” he asked as he started to type.  
  
  
“6 pounds, 3 ounces,” Tara answered proudly.  
  
  
“6…3…” Xander replied, then smiled, “I think my phone’s going to explode in about 7 seconds.”  
  
  
He tucked his phone away and shyly approached, leaning down to kiss Robyn’s forehead.  
  
  
“Welcome to our wacky family,” he whispered to her, “You’re a lucky little girl.”  
  
  
“Thank you, Xand,” Willow smiled up at him, squeezing his upper arm.  
  
  
Xander just grinned goofily and tapped the baby’s nose before the first shrill of his phone started and he quickly exited so as not to disturb the calm in the room.  
  
  
Willow watched proudly as JJ kept a firm and protective hold on his little sister and tenderly kissed the side of his head.  
  
  
“What do you think?”  
  
  
JJ turned his head in thought and appeared to thoroughly examine Robyn’s features before smiling with a definitive nod.  
  
  
“I think I like being a big bruvver!”  
  
  
Willow beamed and she extended her arm about above the kids to hold Tara’s shoulders.  
  
  
“And what do you think, missus?”  
  
  
Tara’s smile could have lit up the whole room as she reached across JJ and Robyn to squeeze Willow’s knee, closing the embrace and holding them all together in a bundle.  
  
  
“I think I have just about the best family in the world.”


	64. Interlude #1

 

* * *

 

_Interlude #1_

 

* * *

  
  
  
“One at a time, one at a time,” Willow said nervously and insistently to the gaggle of people standing in their living room, all clawing to get their hands on the baby, “She’s less than twelve hours old, guys.”  
  
  
The gang heeded the instructions and all stepped back a little, waiting patiently for their turn.  
  
  
“What was it like pushing a watermelon out of your who-ha?” Buffy asked as she giddily swayed around with Robyn in her arms.  
  
  
“Exactly how it sounds,” Willow answered before bringing her thumb up to bite the skin around it, “Buffy, can you not bounce her, please? And her head…”  
  
  
She wrung her hands nervously as she watched Robyn being passed off to the next person in ‘line’, Anya, then felt a hand move up to squeeze her shoulder.  
  
  
She looked back and caught the mixed reassuring/‘calm down’ look Tara was shooting her and tried to sit back and relax, but her shoulders were still tensed.  
  
  
“They’re bouncing her!” she hissed quietly, arms crossing over her chest.  
  
  
“They’re rocking her, they’re saying hello,” Tara replied in a calm whisper, rubbing Willow’s shoulder again, “It’s okay, sweetie. If you’re really not comfortable, let me know and I’ll get her back.”  
  
  
Willow nodded in agreement and kept a careful eye but did seem to relax a little bit.  
  
  
“Xander, you need to put a girl in my belly,” Anya said thoughtfully as she took her time to cradle the baby, “Alex just refuses to wear those diamond-studded sneakers I got him.”  
  
  
“I-I thought we said we only wanted one kid,” Xander replied, nervously running a hand through his hair, “You said you didn’t want to be pregnant again…”  
  
  
He knew better than to add ‘and I don’t want to run the risk of dismemberment every day for another nine months’ while Anya seemed to consider his point.  
  
  
“I suppose it is nice to be able to just observe her cuteness and then hand her back,” she mused, before grinning from ear to ear, “You’re a genius, Xander! We’ll use other people’s children as our dress-up toys!”  
  
  
Willow almost leapt across the room in one fell swoop at that, but Tara held her back and caught Alice’s eye to take the baby from Anya before her wife blew up in front of everyone.  
  
  
Anya didn’t protest offloading the baby as she seemed to be caught up in her next idea.  
  
  
“Is it time for presents now?”  
  
  
“Presents?” Willow asked in confusion, still eyeing her cautiously despite Tara’s calming rubs on her back.  
  
  
“Yes,” Anya answered plainly, “It’s her birthday. Tradition calls for presents and cake. I brought both.”  
  
  
“We actually got you guys something too,” Jesse piped up.  
  
  
“And us!” Buffy chipped in.  
  
  
There was a murmur of agreement around the room that everyone seemed to have a gift to give and Willow very gratefully took her daughter back as they all went out to their cars.  
  
  
“I’ll go get the boys,” Tara said, starting to stand and move towards the back yard where JJ and Alex had gone off to play on their own, having gotten over the baby fever quite quickly, “I’m sure they won’t want to miss cake.”  
  
  
She walked through the kitchen and out the back door, seeing the two sitting bouncing a basketball back and forth between them.  
  
  
“You wouldn’t understand, Alex,” Tara heard JJ say with more than a hint of pride, “You’re not a big bruvver.”  
  
  
She smiled softly and moved towards them.  
  
  
“Boys,” she called, getting their attention straight away, “We’re having cake.”  
  
  
The ball was quickly forgotten as they raced past her in excitement, and she followed back into the living room where Willow and the baby had been surrounded by gifts.  
  
  
“Where’s the cake, where’s the cake?” JJ asked.  
  
  
“’ight ‘ere,” Xander answered, blushing through his mouthful that he’d eagerly cut off as soon as it had been placed down.  
  
  
“Wait, Jacob, before you have your cake,” Ira suddenly spoke up, crossing the room and picking up one of the gifts, “This is for you.”  
  
  
JJ took it, confused.  
  
  
“Why for me?”  
  
  
“Because today is the day you became a big brother,” Ira answered, his tone conveying the significance “It’s a very important day.”  
  
  
JJ nodded seriously and started to peel away the paper, revealing an old, slightly rusted but obviously cared-for pocket watch in the centre.  
  
  
“What is it?” he asked, picking it up and turning it around to examine it.  
  
  
“It’s a pocket watch,” Ira answered, “It’s like the watch on your wrist, except you keep it in your pocket.”  
  
  
JJ seemed pleased with the novelty of the item but noticed it was a lot less shiny than gifts he normally received.  
  
  
“It’s old.”  
  
  
Ira nodded.  
  
  
“It’s very special, Jacob. My father gave this to me, and his father gave it to him, more than a hundred years ago. It means you’re the man of the family,” he said, meeting his grandson’s gaze, who appeared to be listening intently. “Are you ready to be the man of the family?”  
  
  
JJ had little idea of what that actually meant, but he did understand he was being honoured and trusted with the watch in a special way – even if the logistics escaped him.   
  
  
He nodded earnestly.  
  
  
“Yes, sir.”  
  
  
Ira took JJ’s hand and shook it firmly, then smiled warmly.  
  
  
“Enjoy your cake, son.”  
  
  
JJ carefully deposited his new pocket watch into his pants pocket, then scurried over to where both Xander and Alex were now on their second slices, eagerly picking up the piece that had been cut for him.  
  
  
Ira straightened up and started to retreat, but not before Tara caught his hand and looked up to him, touched.  
  
  
“Thank you, Ira.”  
  
  
Ira just nodded and squeezed Tara’s hand before moving back into the crowd of people.   
  
  
Willow was still engrossed in the gifts surrounding her.  
  
  
“Wow, Robyn, look at all this stuff. What do you want to open first?” she asked the baby, moving a hand over then until she heard a gurgle, “This one? Okay.”  
  
  
“That’s from me!” Buffy expounded excitedly, “I mean us! But I picked it!”  
  
  
Willow smiled up at her friend and started to unwrap the tissue paper packaging, pulling out an outfit ensemble of a patterned, purple, hooded jacket; a soft yellow t-shirt with a smiling sun on it, plain black leggings and finished off with a pair of knitted purple booties.  
  
  
“Buffy, this is adorable,” Willow gushed as she held it all up and against Robyn.  
  
  
“They don’t have it in adult size,” Buffy replied sadly, “I checked.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and handed the outfit over to Tara to have a look at, then started opening the rest of the gifts. By the time she was finished, Robyn was well stocked with a collection of baby books from Becky and Brian, a baby bouncer from Alice and Jesse, luxury baby blankets from Ira and Michelle and a savings bond from Xander and Anya.  
  
  
Tara had taken the baby so the gifts could be unwrapped and was rubbing Robyn’s hand on the super-soft blankets they’d received while Willow looked through everything in awe, then smiled up at the gang.  
  
  
“Wow, guys, you’re all so kind, we really app–”  
  
  
“Wait, I have more!” Anya suddenly announced, grabbing her purse and going to sit on the other side of Willow as she pulled things out, “Here’s a baby bracelet for you, Robyn. I put your name on it and everything. You should learn that now, mark the things you own.”  
  
  
“Thank you, Anya,” Tara smiled genuinely as she took the silver bracelet adorned with some pink gems either side of Robyn’s name and slipped it over the baby’s wrist, “That’s very sweet, it’s so pretty.”  
  
  
Anya seemed pleased that her gift was well received and reached deep into her boutique purse that was conveniently bigger than her own head, producing a clear bottle filled with white liquid next.  
  
  
“This is the Crème de la Mer of baby moisturiser,” she said, handing it to Tara, before she was searching again and brought out a small, covered, woven wicker basket, the size of a bag of sugar, filled with various beauty products, “This is for you, Willow. I know how I felt after giving birth. It’s nice to feel pretty.”  
  
  
She gave a small shrug as she handed it to Willow, who took it and held it for a moment, before smiling tenderly up at Anya, clearly moved.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
Anya shrugged again, never quite sure whether an emotional moment with Willow would turn into a hug or a yelling match, so quickly moved onto the last gift she had, taking out a glossy book, stylised as a manual.   
  
  
“This is for when you’re a teenager, Robyn. It’s a book on how to talk to boys to get what you want. Your mothers will obviously be useless on the subject, so you can come to me!”  
  
  
Anya seemed delighted at the prospect of being the go-to boy guru and Willow rolled her eyes but kept her mouth shut as she took the book and left it down with the rest of the gifts.  
  
  
“Thank you,” Tara spoke up in gratitude, “Thank you all. For welcoming our little girl in our family.”  
  
  
Smiles were exchanged with everybody until JJ suddenly bounded forward, grinning, white frosting covering his mouth.  
  
  
“Happy burfday, Wobyn!”  
  
  
There was a chorus of laughs around the room and Willow pulled JJ into her lap to give him a cuddle while Tara moved in closer to them and kissed her daughter’s cheek.  
  
  
“Happy birthday, Robyn.”


	65. Interlude #2

* * *

 

_Interlude #2_

 

* * *

  
  
  
“We’ll go soon. I know you’re all very tired.”  
  
  
“It’s okay, Dad,” Willow smiled, quite tiredly but happily, at her father who was sitting with Michelle across from them in the living room - the only two of everyone left - and was cradling Robyn like a precious china doll, “We’re happy to show her off. Although I was getting a little overwhelmed when everyone was here. I’m surprised she didn’t cry more.”  
  
  
“She was taking it all in,” Ira replied quite proudly, “Just like you used to. So curious.”  
  
  
He watched as Robyn let out some quiet murmurs as she wiggled in his arms and moved her eyes in slow blinks. His smile just got wider and wider until he finally let out a joyous laugh.  
  
  
“Oh this takes me back. Your mother slept solidly for a week after giving birth to you and I would just sit in my den with you, holding you like this. Sometimes we’d go to the kitchen to get your bottle or upstairs for a new diaper and each new room you’d examine with such scrutiny.”  
  
  
“When Tara was just born, she didn’t make a peep for an entire day,” Michelle added as she sat as close to Ira as possible and tenderly stroked the baby’s hair, “She just seemed so happy to go from person to person, whoever she needed to. She did love her Mama’s arms though.”  
  
  
Tara smiled a little sadly and there was a momentary grieving look between the two until an oblivious Ira laughed happily again.  
  
  
“Well I certainly hope you don’t inherit your mother’s propensity for ‘adventure,” he said, his eyes lighting up, “Petunias all over the yard, dirt all over the house!”  
  
  
“Oh Tara loved the outdoors too,” Michelle said with the same affectionate tone, “Once she collected a leaf from every different tree she could find and pasted them on a piece of paper to form a heart for Mother’s Day. Lisa loved it so much; she brought it all the way to Buffalo to show me on her next visit.”  
  
  
“Okay, okay, we get it,” Willow rolled her eyes a little, “Tara was a model child, Willow was a demon.”  
  
  
Ira looked up with a soft smile and shook his head.  
  
  
“Far from it,” he said, looking away thoughtfully for a moment, “Once, you couldn’t have been more than three, maybe four, and you were on one of your ‘adventures’. We’d enclosed the yard, of course, but you were so smart you had of course figured out the lock on the gate.”  
  
  
He paused for a moment as there was a flash of fear in his eye.  
  
  
“That you didn’t run out in front of a car or get taken by someone,” he stopped again and muttered some Hebrew words under his breath before continuing, “Anyway. You went off and I don’t know where you found this young girl, your age, but she had lost her mother and scraped her knee and you brought her home. You insisted you play doctor and put the Band-Aid on, and that you give her your favourite teddy bear; almost cried handing it over, but never hesitated. She had her phone number in her shoe, she was a long way from home, had wandered away on a shopping trip but we found her mother. I asked you if you wanted me to get your bear back as she left and you very clearly said ‘No, Papa. She needs a friend. Toby will be her friend.’”  
  
  
Tara smiled widely as she heard the story and leaned over to press a warm kiss against Willow’s cheek.  
  
  
“You’re the sweetest.”  
  
  
“I don’t remember that,” Willow replied, blushing a little and smiling.  
  
  
Ira shared his daughter’s smile, then lifted Robyn up to kiss her nose.  
  
  
“Integrity, dear Robyn. Your mothers have it in spades. I have no doubt if nothing else; you will get that from them.”  
  
  
Willow looked over at Tara and smiled proudly.   
  
  
Proud that they were parents; proud that Tara was the one she shared children with; proud for all they did and were together and separately to make their family whole.   
  
  
Tara's eyes shone back brightly and their hands instinctively grafted together, fingers intertwining softly, but the moment was cut short as Ira suddenly cleared his throat.  
  
  
“I think she might require a new diaper.”  
  
  
“I’ve got her,” Tara said eagerly, jumping up and scooping her from Ira’s arms, “We’ll get you a nice, new clean diaper, little miss. Yes we will.”  
  
  
“Could I come with you, Tara?” Michelle asked and Tara looked over her shoulder with a smile and a nod, so she followed them up the stairs and into the baby’s room, “Her nursery is really lovely.”  
  
  
“Thanks,” Tara replied brightly as she set Robyn down on the changing table, “It would have to be for my perfect little girl.”  
  
  
She got the diaper off and disposed of, humming happily the whole time.  
  
  
“You know this is her twelfth diaper today already,” she commented proudly, “She’s a super pooper trooper!”  
  
  
She laughed to herself and shook her head softly.  
  
  
“Sorry. I’m completely gone gaga. She’s just so wonderful.”  
  
  
Michelle smiled warmly from beside them.  
  
  
“She is. Tara, she’s beautiful,” she said, then put a hand on her niece’s shoulder, “Your mother would have been so proud.”  
  
  
Tara’s smiled beamed as she wiped and talc’d and Michelle leaned back against the wall to watch Robyn’s kicking legs.  
  
  
“When I held her earlier, I felt like I was holding you again for the first time,” she mused, then laughed, “And when I held you for the first time I felt like I was holding your mother again. Except I was just a little girl when I did that.”  
  
  
She reached out to take one of Robyn’s hands.  
  
  
“It’s so amazing, how we can create life.”  
  
  
Tara got the new diaper secured and looked at her aunt with tender eyes.  
  
  
“Do you wish you’d had children?”  
  
  
Michelle seemed thoughtful, but not sad.  
  
  
“A part of me, maybe. But I wasn’t open to any kind of love for a long time. I wouldn’t have brought a child into that environment.”  
  
  
Tara nodded and listened as she redressed Robyn before finally offering a smile.  
  
  
“You get to make up for it with your grandkids.”  
  
  
Michelle smiled kindly and continued to ‘shake’ Robyn’s hand.   
  
  
“You know, the first time JJ called me Grandma, I felt like I had stolen something from Lisa. Stolen her family. I didn’t help her when she needed it and then took all the good that had eventually come to be from what she had given.”  
  
  
Tara’s brow creased and she was about to open her mouth to argue, but Michelle got there first in a gentle, reflective tone.  
  
  
“But I don’t think that’s true. I think we share it. She watches us from above and I take on what I can here.”  
  
  
Tara instantly felt herself get choked up and lifted Robyn to her chest for comfort.  
  
  
“I’m good with that arrangement,” she said in an unintentionally coarse whisper, before inhaling a calming breath from the top of Robyn’s head a few times, taking in the irreproducible scent that only a newborn had, “It’s been a very emotional twenty-four hours.”  
  
  
“Of course,” Michelle replied, giving Tara’s shoulder a comforting squeeze, “Would you like a moment alone?”  
  
  
Tara nodded gratefully.  
  
  
“I’ll be down in a few.”  
  
  
She settled herself onto the small couch and relaxed back into it as Michelle left the room, humming softly again to Robyn. She took a silent moment of contemplation for the two of them before she found some words becoming interspersed with her humming.  
  
  
 _And these are the moments,  
I thank God that I'm alive.  
And these are the moments,  
I'll remember all my life.  
I've found all I've waited for,  
And I could not ask for more.  
  
Looking in your eyes,  
Seeing all I need.  
Everything you are,  
Is everything to me_  
  
  
She saw those bright eyes fixed on her own and very tenderly traced Robyn's features.  
  
  
“It amazes me how you came from me, and then from Momma,” she said aloud, though quietly, “How you could come from the tiniest little…and look at you. Six pounds, three ounces of perfect. Although you’re at least an ounce or two lighter after that last diaper.”  
  
  
She laughed to herself and adjusted her arms to hold the baby more comfortably.  
  
  
“I’ve only fallen in love three times, Robyn. First your Momma, then your brother, now you. Love at first sight, all of you. And I had a lot of hate in my life before that first love…but it doesn’t…it can’t even come close to comparing…”  
  
  
She sighed softly, happily.   
  
  
“Every bad thing that ever happened to me…”  
  
  
Downstairs, Michelle entered the living room once again, and Willow was instantly on alert when she didn’t see her wife following.  
  
  
“Where’s Tara?”  
  
  
“She just needed a moment,” Michelle explained as she sat back down next to Ira.  
  
  
“Is she okay?” Willow asked, already getting to her feet, “Does she need me?”  
  
  
“I think she’s okay,” Michelle reassured, “It’s been noise, noise, noise all day; she was just appreciating having a quiet minute.”  
  
  
Willow nodded but remained standing.  
  
  
“Well maybe I’ll go make sure JJ brushed his teeth…and look in on her.”  
  
  
“I think it’s time we leave anyway,” Ira said, standing too and taking Michelle’s hand, “We’ll come back tomorrow? If that’s okay?”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly.  
  
  
“Sure thing, Dad.”   
  
  
Ira walked over and pulled Willow into a gentle but all-encompassing, warm hug.  
  
  
“Give that little girl a kiss from her Grandpa, and my grandson too!”  
  
  
“I will,” Willow beamed, “And seriously, come by tomorrow, for dinner even. Can’t promise it’ll be fancy, but it’ll definitely be edible and maybe even good if Tara’s the one cooking!”  
  
  
Ira and Michelle agreed to both come over for dinner the next day, and also bring it with them to save the hassle of cooking, before departing with another round of hugs. Willow shut the door and was quickly but still gingerly ascending the stairs.  
  
  
She moved towards the nursery but stopped short of going in when she saw Tara seemed to be quite happily cuddling their daughter and speaking to her with no hint of hurt.  
  
  
“…led me on the path to you. Every ounce of pain…I’ve been able to replace with a million ounces of love. And every single one of those goes into loving my three shining stars.”  
  
  
Willow smiled and blew Tara a silent kiss, not wanting to disturb the moment she was clearly having with their girl, then quietly moved away and towards JJ’s room. He was sitting in the corner, already in his pyjamas, playing with his cars.  
  
  
“Hey, did you get your teeth brushed?” she asked as she entered, and instantly got a nod of confirmation, “Then let me get you all tucked in!”  
  
  
JJ didn’t protest, it had been a long and exhausting day for him too, so he left his cars in position to play with the next day and scurried over to his bed. Right before he was about to jump in, Willow suddenly got to him first and bombarded him with a hug.  
  
  
“Give me a big hug!” she requested and felt his arms wrap around her, “You can fit your arms around me!”  
  
  
JJ giggled and tightened his arms, liking being able to do it again. Willow rocked him back and forth as they enjoyed their own moment before settling him under the covers. She was about to ask what book he’d like, when a shrill cry made them both jump.  
  
  
Willow glanced down at her watch and saw that Robyn was very likely looking to be fed if she’d just had her diaper changed and looked down at her son regretfully, offering him a kiss onto his forehead.  
  
  
“Robyn needs me to feed her. I’ll send Mommy right in, okay?”  
  
  
JJ just nodded, not seeming too put out that the baby was taking his attention away so Willow hurried out and into the nursery, where Tara was already standing.  
  
  
“I was just about to call you.”  
  
  
“Yeah, I figured it was nommy-time,” Willow answered, taking the baby from Tara, “Everyone’s gone. JJ’s ready for bed.”  
  
  
“On it,” Tara replied promptly, then turned to leave but not before giving her wife a warm smile and a quick kiss on the lips, “I love you.”  
  
  
She left without another word and Willow flopped down onto the couch with a giddy grin and a happy murmur. She got Robyn settled onto her breast and stayed grinning as the very-familiar but always-tantalising Tara-tingle stayed on her lips.  
  
  
“And you'll never know how much I love you too.”


	66. Interlude #3

* * *

 

_Interlude #3_

 

* * *

  
  
  
“ _And_ even if _Megatron_ turned into a _tank_ , _I_ would come save her, ‘cause I’m her big bruvver!”  
  
  
“And you’re the best big brother in the world!” Tara replied to her giddy son as she tried to settle him back into bed, “Hey, your little sister is going to need a lot of attention, like how Momma just had to go and feed her. But if you ever feel left out, you come tell me or your Momma, okay? Promise?”  
  
  
JJ nodded diligently.  
  
  
“And if Wobyn feels left out, I’ll give her a great, big hug,” he answered, flashing his toothless grin, “‘Cause I’m her big bruvver!”  
  
  
Tara felt her heart swell with love.  
  
  
“Come here, my sweet boy.”   
  
  
She wrapped her arms around him tight and resisted a kissing frenzy on his face, knowing he’d just squirm out of it, until JJ yawned and dropped his head back to his pillow.  
  
  
“You comfy?” Tara asked as tucked the blanket in at all corners, “Got Rawry?”  
  
  
JJ held his stuffed lion under his chin and nodded sleepily.  
  
  
“Mommy?”  
  
  
“Yes, sweetie?” Tara asked, brushing some hair from his brow.  
  
  
“Will Wobyn still be here when I wake up?”  
  
  
“Of course,” Tara answered, smiling softly, “She’s gonna be here all the time.”  
  
  
JJ smiled widely at that, but then pretended to act indifferent.  
  
  
“That’s cool.”  
  
  
Tara couldn’t resist a little kiss to his forehead and moved to lie down beside him.  
  
  
“Did you pick a book?”  
  
  
JJ shook his head quite firmly.  
  
  
“Gwanpa says I’m the man of the house,” he replied, very matter-of-fact and proud, before tacking on, “Only little boys get bedtime stowies!”  
  
  
Tara too shook her head, just as serious.  
  
  
“Oh no, men definitely get bedtime stories. I bet your grandpa goes to bed every night with a book. You could ask him yourself.”  
  
  
JJ seemed to consider this a moment, before giving a definitive nod.  
  
  
“Okay. But not a little boy book!”  
  
  
Tara glanced over at his bookshelf and scanned the titles she could see before slowly smiling as a thought came to her.  
  
  
“How would you like…if we started to read the Harry Potter books?”  
  
  
JJ’s eyes lit up and he nodded keenly. He was an avid fan of the movies, having watched numerous times with his Momma but Willow had been reluctant to let him read the books until he was likely to understand most of what was going on – though that mostly stemmed from her own fear of her son getting frustrated and rejecting something she herself loved so much.  
  
  
Tara smiled again and quickly leapt off the bed and left the room to get the first book from the bookshelf in their own room. She knew Willow wouldn’t mind her starting the series with him as long as she got in on the fun herself afterwards.  
  
  
She easily located the book through Willow’s fool-proof organisational structure of genre, subcategorised alphabetically and any series put in order of release, and walked back to JJ who had started to bounce excitedly, his toes wiggling out from the end of the blanket.  
  
  
She went back to lie next to him on his bed and held the cover up for him to see.  
  
  
“That’s Harry, and his broom!” he said, clutching his lion closer to him.  
  
  
Tara nodded and settled herself beside him.  
  
  
“How about I read at bedtimes and if we read during the day, you can try too?”  
  
  
JJ nodded in agreement and snuggled closer to his mother as she put one arm around him and used the other to hold the book below them.  
  
  
“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense…”  
  
  
Across the hall, Willow watched as Robyn popped off her breast and she pulled her shirt back down over herself before grabbing one of the spit-up towels Tara had left in a pile right by the couch for convenience. She got Robyn settled over her shoulder and started to rub her back.  
  
  
“Nice to have a little bit of quiet, huh, baby girl? So many new faces today. All those people love you, Robyn. That’s really special, isn’t it? Family. Family is really special,” she mused to her daughter, looking in amazement at her tiny ears, “And me and Mommy and JJ, we’re a _really_ special kinda special. Extra special. Special with sprinkles on top.”  
  
  
She heard a soft burping sound and smiled as she tossed the towel into the nearby hamper, then brought Robyn back to her chest to rock her.  
  
  
“You’re nice and clean and fed. Bet you’re ready for a good, long sleep. Or maybe a short sleep before you’re hungry again or want a cuddle or a new diaper. Whatever you need, sweet girl.”  
  
  
She watched Robyn blink sleepily but couldn’t quite get her to nod off even after several minutes of gentle rocking.  
  
  
“Do you wanna read a book, cutie? You got lots of books today, from Aunt Becky and Uncle Brian. They both like to read very much. And Mommy bought you a whole bunch before you were even here. Why don’t we go have a look?”  
  
  
She held Robyn safe to her chest and walked over to the shelving that was now quite filled with a variety of colourful, different-shaped books that would be the envy of any literary-inclined infant.   
  
  
“Let’s see, what do we have…The Three Bears Rhyme Book…Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, hey, your brother’s a big fan of him! Goodnight Moon, now there’s a classic. Any of these appealing to you, baby girl?” she asked, not expecting an answer but hoping for some kind of gurgle to guide her, before she spotted a title that she was quite familiar with, “Owl babies.”  
  
  
She picked it up and turned it to see the cover, smiling instantly.  
  
  
“Let’s read this one. It’s one of my favourites,” she said in delight as she got them settled back on the couch and rested the book on her lap, “Once, there were three baby owls. Sarah and Percy and Bill. They lived in a hole in the trunk of a tree with their owl mother. The hole had twigs, and leaves, and owl feathers in it. One night, they woke up, and their owl mother was gone!”  
  
  
Willow knew she was reading the story more for herself than for her daughter, but Robyn seemed to be pleased at the sound of her Momma’s voice and was quite content to listen with only the odd interrupting sound.   
  
  
Willow smiled and laughed along with the book as it told the tale of the owlets who worried when they woke up to their mother gone. It had been a special story for her when she was a little younger, given to her by a special person, and though she hadn’t read it, or even thought about it in years, she could still feel the imprint it had left on her deep inside.   
  
  
“Mummy! They cried, and they flapped and they danced up and down on their branch. What’s all the fuss? Their owl mother asked. You knew I’d come back. The babies thought. All owls think a lot. I knew it! Said Sarah. And I knew it! Said Percy. I love my Mummy! Said Bill.”  
  
  
Willow was beaming from ear to ear as she finished and leaned down to leave a kiss on Robyn’s nose.  
  
  
“Did you like that, sweetie? See, the little owls had nothing to worry about. Their mother was only gone for a few minutes.”  
  
  
She watched as Robyn’s eyelids finally seemed to close but didn’t make any move to leave her in her crib, content to just hold her and watch her in her slumber.  
  
  
“Sleep, little bean. I’ll be here. Always.”


	67. Interlude #4

* * *

  


_Interlude #4_

  


* * *

_Hey Mrs. Michelson,_

 

Willow again. Sorry it’s been a few weeks since I last wrote you. Things have been kind of crazy here…I had the baby! I included a bunch of photos. I know I’m biased but isn’t she the most perfect little thing you’ve ever seen? Are you looking at them right now? Look at the back of the one in the white dress. That was the day she born.

 

I wrote her name and her birthday on there. But the name is the bit I really wanted you to look at. Do you see? Robyn Ruth. We named her after you, and my Bubbe, her name was Ruth too. You were both such important people in my life. She was there until she couldn’t be and you were there when she wasn’t. I always loved to read…but you were the person who made me love books. You gave me so many friends. My only friends for a long time.

 

I look at my son now and how excited he gets when he picks his books at bed time... and she’s so very tiny, but I read to Robyn every day and I swear she really listens.

 

Do you remember the book, Owl Babies? Who am I kidding, of course you do. You know every book that was ever in your store. But that one was special.

 

You gave it to me for my 15th birthday. And I was so confused, because I was 15 and it was clearly a book for kids. I was reading Arthur Miller and William Golding. Why the heck would you give me a book for 5 year olds? But then I read it. And I knew.

 

We didn’t talk about it much…but you knew my parents weren’t around. I know you kept your store open a lot later than you usually did most nights just so I wouldn’t have to be alone. I never thanked you for that. I am now.

 

Thank you.

 

From the bottom of my heart.

 

Thank you.

 

Thank you for being the person I needed when I needed her most. Thank you for always being there for me, when you had no obligation to. Thank you for giving me the only sense of security I ever knew before I had my own family. Thank you for always coming back to me.

 

Thank you for being my Owl Mother.

 

Everyone here is doing great. JJ’s going back to school next week and Tara and I have 10 whole weeks more of maternity leave to spend with our baby and get her settled. She’s doing so good already, the doctor said she’s scoring in the top percentile of all their tests and she eats so much and poops so well and…

 

Wow, I even babble in print. I don’t want to mess up my letter with scratchy marks, but you can forget that last part. I’m just so proud of her. And my boy, Tara’s been reading Harry Potter with him. We watched all the movies together and I was worried the books might be a little too advanced, but he’s loving them.

 

I remember the first book came out when I was 12 and you tossed it at me one day, saying it was some weird new fantasy book that would never take off but that I might like it. Well I did, and the whole world did too. I bet that’s probably the only time you were ever wrong about a book. But do you know what’s awesome? You still encouraged me to read it.

 

That’s what I want to do for my kids. I want them to love reading so much that they’ll take anything, a cereal box even, and read it. Learn it. Experience it.

 

You taught me so much.

 

And I promise I’ll do the same for my children. They’ll know that when they look at a book, they’re seeing the world.

 

I hope you’re still doing as well as you were in your last letter, that your still go to your bridge night and your cat is still keeping you company. Hey, if phones aren’t too new-fangled-y for you, I wrote my number on the back of this letter. I’d love to talk to you if you wanted.

 

But I’d like to keep writing too. Sometimes pens say things you can’t quite bring your mouth to.

 

I look forward to your next letter, maybe even your phone call.

 

Until then, know that every time I look at my sweet daughter, I think of you.

 

All my love,

 

Willow x


	68. Chapter 68

**6 Weeks Later**

  
Willow rolled the volume dial on the baby monitor to the highest setting and left it on top of the dresser in their bedroom. She smiled at the small video panel in front that was focused on her sleeping daughter in the nursery and spent a few moments watching her gentle movements before Tara’s voice from the doorway startled her.  
  
  
“He was exhausted, I didn’t even finish the first three pages before he was out,” she said, closing the door softly and reaching behind to give herself a neck rub before looking around the quiet room in confusion, “Where’s Robyn?”  
  
  
Willow swallowed nervously and gestured at the baby monitor.  
  
  
“I-I put her down in her crib.”  
  
  
“For the night?” Tara questioned with a raised eyebrow, “I didn’t know we were trying her in separate rooms yet. She’s only had a couple of afternoon naps in there.”  
  
  
“Well, I, um, we don’t have to leave her there the whole night,” Willow replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her own ear, “I just…wanted us to have a couple of hours…alone. Before she wakes up for her first feed.”  
  
  
Tara’s brow creased in confusion at the sudden change in routine before suddenly realising what Willow meant.  
  
  
“Oh.”  
  
  
“Only if you wanted,” Willow added quickly.  
  
  
Tara nodded keenly and strode across the room to her wife.  
  
  
“Yes, yes, I…I really want,” she replied emphatically, taking a tentative hold of Willow’s waist, “Is…are you…?”  
  
  
“I had my doctor’s appointment when you took Robyn for her check-up this morning. All healed and good and…safe,” Willow replied, biting the side of her lip, “And I was going to try and slip into something a little more in-the-mood-y, light a candle or two but I anticipated a full chapter night.”  
  
  
“I sang to him a little before we started,” Tara offered as an explanation.  
  
  
“Right,” Willow nodded, wringing her hands nervously in front of her, “Um, I can still put something on…”  
  
  
Tara rubbed her thumbs over the small patch of Willow’s skin that was revealed between her pants and t-shirt.  
  
  
“You look beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow looked down at the old pair of grey sweats hanging from her hips and the worn t-shirt, darker patches in various areas down the front.  
  
  
“Milk stains…” she commented, frowning as she flicked at a slightly-bumpy white stain on her shoulder, “And I think that’s oatmeal from this morning…”  
  
  
Tara pulled Willow’s hips so they bumped against her own and leaned down to nuzzle their noses, lowering her voice.  
  
  
“You look beautiful.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and smiled coyly.  
  
  
“Let me light the candles at least.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and moved around to embrace Willow from behind, tenderly kissing her neck as the redhead lit three of the candles that she’d taken from where they kept some in their nightstands.   
  
  
“You smell good,” Tara whispered as her teeth gently nipped her wife’s skin.  
  
  
Willow was about to voice that she was pretty sure she smelled like spit-up and breast milk but decided that it was time to switch off baby-mode and switch on wifey-mode. She covered Tara’s hands on her hips and squeezed.  
  
  
“Your hands are soft.”  
  
  
Tara let out a low, humming moan and pressed her fingers into Willow’s skin before gently turning her and kissing her warmly. Willow felt a shiver go up her spine as they started to walk towards the bed together and broke free to push herself up to the top of the mattress.  
  
  
Tara looked like she was about to climb in with her wife, but instead hung back and gave a crooked smile as she dropped her hands to the base of her shirt and started to slowly unbutton upwards.  
  
  
Willow felt her breath hitch, fully enjoying being able to watch her wife undress without thoughts of diapers or school-runs or midnight feeds, and raked her eyes over the smooth torso and toned legs as Tara stripped down to just her bra and panties.  
  
  
She started to giggle as Tara turned and did a little booty shake for her but then felt her heart plunge as a wave of uncertainty over her own changed body washed over her. She tried to push it away and appreciate the fact that Tara’s perfectly round bottom was just inches away from her but struggled until she found herself with a familiar body hovering over and grinning down at her.  
  
  
“This is nice,” she ventured, her hands circling above Tara’s back but never quite connecting, “You haven’t fit on top of me in a while.”  
  
  
“Mmhh,” Tara moaned, careful not to put any weight on Willow, and dropped her head into her wife’s neck.  
  
  
Willow’s jaw clenched as Tara eagerly sucked and kissed her skin and she closed her eyes tight before sighing and pushing Tara’s shoulders up a little when she felt hands start to pull her t-shirt up.  
  
  
“Wait.”  
  
  
Tara slowly lifted her head and smiled bashfully.  
  
  
“Sorry, I’m going too fast,” she said, reaching a hand up to brush some hair from Willow’s face, “I’ll try to control myself but I can’t make any promises around you.”  
  
  
She stuck her tongue out between her teeth with a lascivious look but it quickly faltered when Willow didn’t smile back and her features softened.  
  
  
“Willow, we don’t have to do anything just because you can. We can wait until you’re ready, there’s no rush.”  
  
  
“I-I want to,” Willow replied quickly, her gaze darting around for a few moments before meeting Tara’s eyes vulnerably, “You know I haven’t lost all...any...of the baby weight yet, right?”  
  
  
Tara’s mouth opened but quickly closed again as she leant down to place a very tender kiss on Willow’s lips.  
  
  
“You’re gorgeous.”  
  
  
Willow’s lips parted to welcome Tara’s against her and felt a rush of warmth pass through her. Her eyes fluttered open to see Tara’s already staring back and she exhaled slowly before sitting up, taking her wife with her, and lifted her arms over her head in offering.  
  
  
Tara ran a single finger along her wife’s jaw before slowly and carefully lifting Willow’s t-shirt over her head. She kept her gaze locked with Willow’s until it was on the floor, before letting herself look down to admire her wife’s form.  
  
  
Willow blushed under the lusty gaze that if anything was just more intense from any time she’d received it before and suddenly found herself overwhelmed with desire. Her own hands started to eagerly push her sweats off but Tara quickly took over, whipping them off and dropping her head to kiss all over her wife’s stomach.  
  
  
Willow fell back onto the bed, her breathing growing heavier and heavier as she squirmed under Tara’s touch. Hands, though she couldn’t tell whose, ridded them both of the last vestiges of their clothing, flying every which direction as their mouths hungrily devoured each other; meeting each other with an eagerness and desperation that they had been holding back from for many weeks.  
  
  
Willow let herself be rolled onto her back and felt herself tingling from head to toe as Tara touched and kissed her everywhere until she felt a hand pulling her hip up and start to inch its way between her legs. She stilled her hand on Tara’s back and tapped some fingertips along her wife’s spine to get her attention.  
  
  
“Hey, um, before we…” she trailed off a moment, one last thought plaguing her mind, “I pushed a baby out of there, okay? Things are gonna feel…different.”  
  
  
Willow expected, and needed, just a quick reassurance of what she already knew; that Tara would love her and _love_ her no matter what, but instead did a double-take in surprise when what she was given was a snort of laughter.  
  
  
Tara’s hands covered her mouth as soon as it happened and Willow looked on the verge of tears as she rolled onto her side, back to her wife. Tara internally kicked herself and lay down behind Willow, putting a cautious hand on her shoulder.  
  
  
“Willow, I’m so sorry.”  
  
  
“No, that’s fine,” Willow replied tersely, shrugging the hand off, “We laugh at each other when we share our insecurities now, I’m glad I know that.”  
  
  
Tara’s eyes creased and she reached over to insistently take her wife’s hand.  
  
  
“Please let me apologise,” she pleaded, and Willow looked over to her with a stony but apparently listening face, “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you. I was laughing at what my foggy brain jumped to. Sleepy haze and baby haze and getting to touch you again haze…it’s no excuse, but my brain is just…”  
  
  
Willow gave a small nod of understanding but still looked hurt.  
  
  
“Why was it even funny to begin with?”  
  
  
“Because you married a woman,” Tara replied with a grimace at her own train of thought, “And I can be…size-adjustable as necessary. I just wanted you to know that I can still make you feel good, we’ll just take it slow and figure out what works. But I messed up and I’m really, really sorry.”  
  
  
Willow closed her eyes and sighed - she understood what the exhaustion and emotion was capable of. She turned onto her back and leaned up for a quick smooch.  
  
  
“I get it. I forgive you,” she said before her face scrunched and she exhaled slowly, “But I’m not worried about you making me feel good. I know you’re going to make me feel good.”  
  
  
“What are you worried about?” Tara asked gently, holding up three fingers in a ‘scout’s honour’ motion when she got a cautious look back, “I won’t…ever again.”  
  
  
Willow nodded and reached for Tara’s hand, playing with her fingers.   
  
  
“I’m worried…I won’t feel good. For you,” she explained, looking down, “There’ll be…looseness…and stuff.”  
  
  
“Oh, Willow,” Tara replied softly, careful to think about her words this time, “That doesn’t…You feel good to me because you’re you.”  
  
  
Willow didn’t look up so Tara cuddled in closer to her side and trailed a hand down her wife’s body.  
  
  
“Let me show you how good you feel to me.”  
  
  
Willow lifted her gaze and felt her heart begin to pound in her chest at the deep heat glazing in Tara’s eyes. She shifted underneath her wife so their bodies pressed into each other and leaned up to kiss her softly.   
  
  
She felt the last of her worries melt away as they relaxed into each other and slowly built up to heated touches and passionate kissing. Willow felt Tara purposely bypassing her breasts but could tell she wanted to touch her there by the ardent squeezes she was receiving in and around the area.  
  
  
“You can touch my boobs but be careful around my nipples,” she whispered, bumping Tara’s hand encouragingly towards her breast, “Don’t wanna squirt everywhere.”  
  
  
She waited for Tara to resume kissing her, but her wife just grinned down at her instead and she realised what she had said. She blushed and lightly hit Tara’s shoulder.  
  
  
“You’re just naughty, you know that?”  
  
  
“You’re the one who said it,” Tara replied with a wry smile.  
  
  
“I was talking about the milk that feeds and nourishes our daughter,” Willow responded indignantly, “ _You’re_ the one who turned it into…”  
  
  
She trailed off and started to chuckle at her own phrasing before feeling Tara’s fingertips dancing on her stomach and her breathing grew heavy as she looked down and watched them slide down near her red curls.  
  
  
Tara mistook the look for hesitance and paused.  
  
  
“Are you scared?” she asked softly, only for Willow to smile, “What?”  
  
  
“I just remember…asking you that. The very first time,” Willow explained, then popped a kiss on Tara’s lips as she echoed what had been said to her so many years before, “I trust you.”  
  
  
Tara smiled softly and dropped her head to take Willow’s lips again. Her hand moved back up to take some gentle squeezes of her wife’s breasts, the soft feel igniting her desire and she moved down to let her lips circle the fleshy globes.  
  
  
Willow’s back arched into Tara’s touch and she gasped sharply as she felt wet heat glide against her thigh.  
  
  
“T-Tara…” she moaned shakily feeling a clenching between her legs and a hot pressure in her abdomen, “Oh baby, I need you.”  
  
  
Tara licked a straight path from between her wife’s breasts and into her neck, nipping at her pulse point as her hand quested lower. She began playing with the downy hairs and sucking assertively on her wife’s soft skin, then raised her head to look into Willow’s eyes as she let her fingers sink into the waiting wetness.  
  
  
Willow gasped, her cheeks flushing and she opened her thighs a little.   
  
  
“Does this hurt?” Tara asked gently.  
  
  
Willow shook her head and rolled her hips to encourage the movements. Her fist opened and closed against the sheet as Tara tenderly stroked her and lightly rubbed the bump in her flesh.  
  
  
“Tara…” she groaned, her body quickly becoming overwhelmed by the intense pleasure.  
  
  
Tara watched Willow squirm and writhe, feeling more and more arousal building around her fingers.   
  
  
“Do you want just this?” she asked softly, peppering Willow’s shoulder-blade with kisses.  
  
  
Willow’s eyes fluttered open and she blushed at the dark, glassy eyes looking back at her. She leant over and gave Tara’s shoulder the same treatment she was receiving.  
  
  
“I want everything,” she whispered, starting to sit as her lips continued their path up to Tara’s jaw, “Is it okay if I’m on top? Gives me some more control.”  
  
  
Tara eagerly fell onto her back.   
  
  
“Of course.”  
  
  
Willow grinned at the keenness and threw her legs over Tara’s waist so she was straddling her. She felt Tara’s hands come to rest on her hips and suddenly tensed, thinking that this was not a good position for her to be in when she was so worried about loose skin and sagging.  
  
  
She was about to say she’d changed her mind and didn’t want to be on top anymore when she felt Tara’s fingertips dig into her skin and looked down to see her wife lustily staring at her form.  
  
  
She squirmed at the intensity of the gaze and grinned.  
  
  
“See something you like?”  
  
  
Tara slowly looked up to meet Willow’s gaze and smiled crookedly.  
  
  
“Very much.”  
  
  
Willow bit her lip seductively and bucked her hips, feeling as sexy as she ever did around Tara.  
  
  
“Then take it.”  
  
  
She felt her breath quicken steadily as Tara slowly teased her hand back between her legs and moaned as she finally connected. Her thighs trembled as she felt soft fingers glide against her until they were at her entrance and paused.  
  
  
She let out a few short breaths, unsure how this was going to feel the first time since giving birth, before locking eyes with Tara and very slowly lowering herself.  
  
  
She smiled in surprise when there was no pain and experimented with some gentle up-and-down movements, getting used to the feeling again. She looked to Tara who was smiling back at her full of love and adoration and reached out towards her.  
  
  
“Other hand, please,” she requested, wanting to hold it, then gulped as Tara just pushed herself up into a sitting position, so close that their noses were _just_ touching each other, making her voice come out in a throaty whisper, “This is good.”  
  
  
Tara turned her head and grazed Willow’s lips with her own, just barely caressing them for several seconds before finally fully taking them as she moved her hand inside for the first time.  
  
  
Willow jolted, her arms flying around Tara’s neck, and a deep moan rose from her throat, vibrating against her lips and into her wife’s mouth. Her hips set a fast pace and Tara kept her movements gentle but in time.   
  
  
Tara's own body was flushing with heat each time their chests thrust together without anything in the way; a sensation she’d very much been enjoying in the brief snapshots of time that they actually managed to steal a few minutes together to cuddle, but heightened to whole new levels in the intensity of their embrace.  
  
  
Willow opened her mouth to let Tara take control of the kiss and watched her facial muscles twitch from her optimum viewing position right in front of her, enjoying the fact her wife was unaware she was doing so.   
  
  
One hand fell from Tara’s neck to her shoulder and down her arm, slipping behind to cup one of her buttock cheeks firmly before dancing around and inwards between her thighs, then suddenly entering her.  
  
  
Tara’s eyes flew open in surprise and Willow broke the kiss to grin at her, loving being able to shock her in such a way. Tara’s eyelids grew heavy and they both stilled completely for a moment before starting again, hands moving in sync and foreheads rested together.  
  
  
“Mmhh, Tara,” Willow whispered after several minutes of soft kisses around each other’s faces, “I’m…I’m…”  
  
  
“I’ve got you,” Tara whispered back, her chest heaving each time their hips hit against each other, “I’m with you.”   
  
  
Willow sought Tara’s spare hand and held on tight as she started to crash, watching the pleasure shine in with the emotion in her wife’s eyes. She bumped her Tara's nose affectionately as the final rush assaulted her body and mouthed ‘I love you’. This seemed to send Tara over the edge as she began to shake, and their balance was lost; falling back onto the mattress in a sweaty, heaving heap.  
  
  
“Sorry,” Willow said hazily, pushing herself up on one elbow, “Did I hurt you?”  
  
  
It took Tara an entire minute to respond, for the question to float into the right part of her brain and she shook her head before slowly opening her eyes.  
  
  
“Did I?”  
  
  
Willow smiled softly and shook her head too.  
  
  
“Not at all,” she replied, leaning down to pop a kiss on her wife’s lips, “You were so gentle.”  
  
  
“You…felt wonderful,” Tara whispered, reaching down to entwine their fingers, “Your hands, and your lips, and your…everything.”  
  
  
Willow blushed and settled back down alongside Tara, tangling their legs and brushing some hair from her wife’s face.  
  
  
“Thank you. For being my missus.”  
  
  
Tara left a soft kiss on Willow’s lips.  
  
  
“Thanks for being mine.”  
  
  
She dropped her head to Willow’s shoulder and held her tight, both of them enjoying the quiet embrace for several minutes before Tara felt a small shiver go up her wife’s spine and sat up to lean down and get the blanket.  
  
  
Robyn decided in that moment she’d given her parents enough of a stretch of peace and a soft wail rang out from the monitor on the dresser.  
  
  
Tara retrieved the blanket quickly, then slipped from the bed, tucking Willow in before kissing her between the eyes affectionately.  
  
  
“Rest. I’ll get her.”  
  
  
“Bassinet is ready…” Willow commented lazily, “If you need to bring her in.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and nodded, dropping another quick kiss on Willow’s nose before making her way towards the door. She grabbed her robe from the back of it on the way and wrapped it around herself. She quickly skirted down the hallway to the nursery and flicked on the light, going over to her fussing daughter and lifting her into her arms.  
  
  
“Come here, sweet girl,” she cooed softly, rocking her, “It’s okay, Mommy’s got you.”  
  
  
She patted the baby’s diaper under her sleeping suit and determined it was still dry, though Robyn didn’t seem to be comfortable just from being held; her cry low but consistent.  
  
  
Tara walked around the room with her for a few minutes but when Robyn still didn’t quieten, she went over to sit on the couch, relaxing back and cradling the baby.  
  
  
 _Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Momma's gonna buy you a mockingbird.  
And if that mockingbird don't sing, Momma's gonna buy you a diamond ring.  
And if that diamond ring turns brass, Momma's gonna buy you a looking glass.  
And if that looking glass gets broke, Momma 's gonna buy you a billy goat.  
And if that billy goat doesn't pull, Momma's gonna buy you a cart and bull.  
And if that cart and bull turns over, Momma's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.  
And if that dog named Rover won't bark, Momma's gonna buy you a horse and cart.  
And if that horse and cart falls down, you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town._  
  
  
Robyn seemed captivated as the song finished and Tara smiled.  
  
  
“Guess I should talk to your Momma before signing her up for all these expenses, huh?”   
  
  
From the doorway, Willow smiled and felt her heart melt as she watched her wife interact with their daughter, having followed Tara out when she recognised Robyn’s persistent ‘hungry’ cry, which started again just a moment later, Tara’s singing only having acted as a temporary Band-Aid.  
  
  
“I know, baby girl, you’re hungry,” Tara piped up again, “I’ll bring you into your Momma.”  
  
  
Willow was about to make her presence known so that Tara didn’t have to get up but had barely taken a step when she heard her wife speaking to the baby again, her tone changed.  
  
  
“Hey, you know who I am, don’t you?”  
  
  
Willow’s brow creased in confusion and continued to listen and watch as Tara tenderly stroked Robyn’s cheek.  
  
  
“I can’t feed you like your Momma can…but you know who I am, right, sweetpea? You know I’m your Mommy?”  
  
  
Willow stepped forward then, utterly confused at what she was hearing.  
  
  
“Of course she does.”  
  
  
Tara’s head snapped up in surprise and she cleared her throat.  
  
  
“Willow, hi,” she said, trying to act nonchalant, “I think she’s hungry, diaper’s clean.”  
  
  
Willow noticed the aversion tactic but decided Robyn being fed took priority for the moment. She went over and slipped into the space beside her wife, pulling the top of her robe open enough to expose her breast and took the baby, positioning her at her nipple.  
  
  
“Do you need any help?” Tara asked softly.  
  
  
Willow shook her head.  
  
  
“They’re still hard from…” she trailed off with a blush before smiling down at the baby as she latched on straight away, “Good girl.”  
  
  
She watched Robyn feed for a moment before casting a sidelong glance at Tara who was watching the same thing. There was a quiet minute before Willow spoke softly.  
  
  
“You can tell me,” she said, her tone tender before she bumped Tara’s shoulder playfully, “I won’t laugh like certain people I could mention.”  
  
  
Tara looked down but with a smile, then raised her head again to rest her chin on her wife’s shoulder.  
  
  
“I guess I just feel sometimes…we had equal footing with JJ…and you’ve got this whole special bond with her that I just can’t share,” she explained, before quickly adding, “I don’t resent it for a second. I love watching you feed her. Sometimes I just have…moments…where I think she might think you’re her mother…and I’m just this lady that hangs around to get her mother when she’s hungry.”  
  
  
Willow felt her heart break for a moment and dropped a lingering kiss onto the side of Tara’s head.  
  
  
“She knows exactly who you are,” she said firmly but saw hesitance still on Tara’s face, “She does. She even has her ‘Mommy’ cry.”  
  
  
Tara lifted her head, confused.  
  
  
“What?”  
  
  
“Her Mommy cry,” Willow stated as if it was obvious, “She has her hungry cry, and her wet cry and her tired cry and her very-particular, high-pitched squeal of a Mommy cry, where nothing but a Mommy cuddle will do.”  
  
  
Tara rolled her eyes, thinking Willow was placating her.  
  
  
“She doesn’t have a 'Mommy' cry.”  
  
  
“You bet your butt she does,” Willow replied emphatically.  
  
  
Tara’s eyebrow raised in questioned.  
  
  
“Why don’t I notice it?”  
  
  
“You do,” Willow replied before smiling tenderly, “You don’t even see it. The moment the Mommy cry comes out, you drop whatever you’re doing and run.”  
  
  
Tara looked down at Robyn, wanting to believe what her wife was saying was true, then felt a hand pressing lightly against her belly.  
  
  
“She came from you, Tara.”  
  
  
Tara looked down, then back up to Willow.  
  
  
“And you.”  
  
  
“Exactly,” Willow smiled softly, “She came from both of us. She’s our baby girl.”  
  
  
Tara managed a little smile, then suddenly found Willow herself into shuffling into her lap.  
  
  
“C’mere,” she said softly, “Do you want to hold her while she feeds?”  
  
  
Tara gently wrapped her arms around Willow and the baby from behind, holding Robyn in place. She looked up at Willow, her eyes shining with deep love.  
  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
  
Willow leaned over and pressed a sweet kiss to Tara’s lips, then they both watched Robyn feed again. After a few moments, footsteps were heard in the hallway and Willow covered her breast up and slipped from Tara’s lap just as JJ came into the room, rubbing his eyes sleepily.  
  
  
“I’m sorry honey, did we wake you?” Tara asked him as he walked over to them in his Spiderman pyjamas.  
  
  
JJ climbed into Tara’s lap and rested his head on her chest.  
  
  
“I had to pee.”  
  
  
“Did you go?” Tara asked and he nodded.  
  
  
JJ closed his eyes and snuggled into Tara’s chest. Willow smiled at him, then over at Tara.  
  
  
“She’s almost done, we can settle them both back then.”  
  
  
Tara nodded in agreement and started to soothingly stroke JJ’s hair until Robyn stopped feeding and just a few split seconds later, began to cry again. JJ sighed and started to make his way into Willow’s lap.  
  
  
“Hey, where are you going?” Tara asked, having enjoyed the cuddle time.  
  
  
“She only cries like that when she wants you, Mommy,” JJ replied, not opening his eyes as he settled as best he could around Willow.  
  
  
Willow grinned triumphantly at Tara and leaned over to pass the baby off.  
  
  
“I told you. She loves her Mommy.”  
  
  
“I love my Mommy,” JJ piped up sleepily from around his thumb.  
  
  
Willow grinned more and decided to add to the mix.  
  
  
“I love their Mommy.”  
  
  
Tara beamed as Robyn stopped crying almost as soon as she got a good hold on her.  
  
  
“And I love you all, my sweet, sweet family.”  
  
  
Willow joined the trend of closed eyes as she moved to rest her head on Tara’s shoulder as Robyn was settled over the other to burp.  
  
  
“Who needs a bed? Looks like I’ve got a ready-made snuggle emporium right here.”  
  
  
“Watch out,” Tara warned playfully, “We’ll start charging admission.”  
  
  
“I’ll gladly pay,” Willow replied, turning her head to smile up at her wife, “Name your price.”  
  
  
Tara pretended to think.  
  
  
“Five hugs an hour, three squeezes and a kiss.”  
  
  
“Done,” Willow responded without hesitation, leaning up to pop a kiss on Tara’s cheek, “And that was for free.”  
  
  
Tara smiled and left an answering kiss on Willow’s temple before hearing a quite sound come from the baby. She brought Robyn back to her chest and beamed quietly to herself when she saw her nod off almost straight away.  
  
  
“She has a Mommy cry.”  
  
  
Willow shifted a little, careful not to disturb JJ who appeared to have followed his sister into dreamland, and fully immersed herself into Tara’s side, claiming full cuddle potential.  
  
  
“We couldn’t cope without you, none of us.”  
  
  
“Well you’ll never have to,” Tara promised, carefully balancing the baby in one arm while wrapping the other around Willow.  
  
  
JJ seemed to stir but didn’t waken, instead just settling down across both women’s laps, entwining them all together in an embrace. Willow let out a deeply satisfied murmur and closed her eyes again in contentment.  
  
  
“So is there an entry card I get to this snuggle emporium? I wouldn’t want to be denied entry.”  
  
  
Tara’s lips quirked up to one side, deciding this was ranking high in the list of perfect moments in her life. A soft kiss was dropped on each forehead of the three people who filled her life with so much joy and Willow was gifted with the affectionate smile, being the only other one still awake to enjoy it.  
  
  
“You get the lifetime pass.”  
  
  


**The End**


End file.
